Consumers to feel pain at the pumps

Last week the Department of Energy said all grades of petrol would go up by 81 cents a litre from this Wednesday (6 March, 2013), while the wholesale diesel price will jump by 57 cents a litre. This means the price of petrol is now R13.08 and R12.87 in Gauteng.


But consumers are in for father pain. Last week finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, said the Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy will increase by 8 cents a litre and the fuel levy will increase by 15 cents and that these increases will kick in from the 1 April.


However, South Africans don’t pay the most for their petrol. According to the latest Bloomberg Gas Price Ranking which sorts 60 countries by average price at the pump and "pain at the pump", which measures the percentage of average daily income needed to buy a gallon of fuel, South Africa ranks no 41 and 11 respectively. The report said: “South Africans do face pain at the pump, the 11th most overall, which is made worse by the amount they consume.”
 

What's the solution?
 

Besides taking public transport or creating a car pool, drivers can drive more efficiently to save on fuel. For more on this check out our story 'Drive smart and save on fuel'.