Halved Tax Relief Drives June Petrol Hike While Diesel Plummets
- Karen Scheepers
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) has announced the official fuel price structural adjustments taking effect on Wednesday, 3 June 2026.
The narrative for June is entirely defined by a tug-of-war between strong international over-recoveries and the National Treasury’s planned withdrawal of emergency tax relief. While global market factors dramatically favored a price drop across the board, petrol users are still facing a hike solely because the government is phasing out its temporary tax subsidy.
The June 2026 Price Structure (Inland Zone 9C)
For motorists across Gauteng and the North West, the official retail pump prices for petrol and wholesale prices for diesel will adjust as follows:
Fuel Type | Price Adjustment | New June Price (Inland) | May Reference Price |
Petrol 95 Unleaded | Increase of R1.43 per litre | R28.06 | R26.63 |
Petrol 93 Unleaded | Increase of R1.43 per litre | R27.95 | R26.52 |
Diesel 0.05% (Wholesale) | Decrease of R3.25 per litre | R27.92 | R31.17 |
Diesel 0.005% (Wholesale) | Decrease of R2.62 per litre | R29.26 | R31.88 |
Illuminating Paraffin | Decrease of R5.96 per litre | R22.47 | R28.43 |
LPGas | Decrease of 17 cents per kg | R40.95 | R41.12 |
Why Petrol is Up Despite Market Drops
During May, a stabilizing Brent Crude oil price (averaging $104.59 per barrel) and a stronger Rand (rebounding from R16.65 to R16.52 per USD) combined with shifting seasonal demand in the Northern Hemisphere to create an excellent market cushion.
Normally, these factors would have triggered a welcome price cut for all vehicle owners. However, the National Treasury has officially begun the planned phasing out of the temporary general fuel levy relief that was introduced during the peak of the Middle East shipping crisis.
For Petrol, R1.50 per litre was reintroduced to the tax structure this month as part of this scheduled reduction in relief. This structural change absorbed the basic product over-recovery, turning a potential price drop into a net R1.43 per litre hike.
For Diesel, the Treasury reinstated R1.96 per litre of the levy. Fortunately, the massive international drop in middle-distillate product values (saving a substantial R5.42 per litre on the basic fuel price) was large enough to offset the return of the tax, securing a major net decrease of up to R3.25 per litre for diesel consumers.
The Slate Levy Factor
Further compounding the baseline costs is South Africa's Self-Adjusting Slate Levy Mechanism. Due to cumulative under-recoveries by oil importers reaching a negative balance of R18.28 billion at the end of April, the Slate Levy has been hiked by 35.04 cents per litre, moving from 122.70 c/l up to 157.74 c/l for both petrol and diesel.
What This Means for the Road Ahead
Motorists should treat the massive drop in diesel prices as a temporary window of relief. The remaining portions of the government's temporary tax relief, amounting to R1.50 per litre for petrol and R1.97 per litre for diesel, are legally structured to disappear completely on 1 July 2026. Unless global product prices collapse drastically over the next few weeks, another automatic baseline hike is already guaranteed for mid-winter.
Disclaimer: Please note that these official figures are for reference only, as retail pump prices will vary across individual service stations.
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