Good news for cash strapped South Africans is that the downward trend in fuel prices continues this with month with yet another price decrease on product prices for petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin from midnight tonight, 6 August.
Chairman of South African Petroleum Retailers Association (SAPRA), representing the interest of numerous petroleum retailers in South Africa and a proud association of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI) Henry van der Merwe says the drop in fuel prices reflects the Rand’s appreciation against the US Dollar during the period under review as well as the much lower oil price. The average Rand/US Dollar exchange rate for the period 28 June 2024 to 01 August 2024 was 18.2360 compared to 18.4439 during the previous period. This led to a lower contribution to the Basic Fuel Prices on petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by 13.86 c/l, 13.80 c/l, 14.01c/l respectively.
“Fluctuating fuel costs impact every sector of society as they directly translate into higher/lower operational costs for businesses and impact the cost of living for consumers. Small businesses are often hardest hit when fuel goes up, as are commuters. The relief in the form of a decrease in fuel costs is therefore tremendous news this month,” he says.
He adds that SAPRA would like to see this trend continue as the fuel pumps are one sector of the economy where the consumer can literally see they are paying less. Any saving, he says, for South Africans at the moment is significant.
“We hope consumers will be lined up at the pumps tomorrow 7 August, to take advantage of the fuel savings and at last have a second month with a little more money left in the household or business budget.”