Fuel in South Africa Costs Way More Than Other Southern African Countries, Except for Zimbabwe
- South African fuel prices are not higher than most countries across the globe, however, they are higher than most Southern African countries
- Countries with lower petrol prices include Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, eSwatini and Namibia
- The Bureau of Economic Research predicts that we may see a huge increase in petrol prices in February
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JOHANNESBURG - A number of countries around the world had to grapple with fuel price hikes in the past year, in some cases prices increased to historical high amounts.
South Africa is one of those countries and saw petrol price reaching the R20 per litre mark in December 2020. Petrol now retails for R19,61.
Source: Getty Images
According to BusinessInsider, while the R20 per litre mark may seem quite high for ordinary South Africans, this is actually the average fuel price across the globe. Tax and levies in specific countries are what determine the final fuel price and this is how fuel prices end up varying.
In South Africa, the government determines how much fuel should cost across all competitors while in other countries, the government only caps the price fuel can not be charged. This allows competitors to charge lower prices for fuel.
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South African fuel prices compared to neighbouring countries
Mzansi might not have the highest fuel prices across the globe, however, when it comes to neighbouring countries South Africa's fuel prices are higher than most, except for Zimbabwe.
When compared to Botswana, South Africa charges R2.57 more per litre for petrol which means Botswana charges an average of R17,04 per litre.
Nambia sells petrol for R15,60 per litre which means petrol is R4,02 less expensive in Namibia than in South Africa. Lesotho and Mozambique both sell petrol for just under R17 per litre and in eSwatini petrol costs R16,19 per litre.
In Zimbabwe, petrol retails for R21,92 per litre which is R2,32 more than how much it sells in South Africa.
Fuel hikes expected
The Bureau of Economic Research has stated that fuel hikes are expected in February. The main reason for the hefty price hike has been attributed to increasing oil prices that are impacted by the Omicron variant, according to The South African.
It predicts that fuel prices could see an increase of at least 70 cents per litre, which is the same amount that fuel prices decreased by in early January.
South Africans think the fuel price dropping is merely a distraction from Parliament fire
Briefly News previously reported that South Africans can finally breathe a little easier now that fuel prices will drop on Wednesday, 5 January after weeks of speculation.
The announcement was made on Monday by the Central Energy Fund, stating that petrol prices will go down by 68c and 71c for 95 octane petrol and 93 octane petrol respectively.
South Africans are not too excited about the fuel price dropping
Taking to social media, South Africans have expressed that the fuel price drop is not enough because prices will be increasing again. Some people say the price dropping could be a way for the government to distract citizens. Here are some interesting takes from South Africans:
@SthembisoNjab15 said:
"Distracting us from the burning Parliament."
@tumelo1865 said:
"I suspect manipulation of food prices... now we're paying more in food. Jiki jiki petrol goes down then a few weeks it will go up and food price will rise again."
Source: Briefly News
