Motorists have been advised to cut down on non-essential expenditures following the recent petrol hike announcement.
According to the Automobile Association (AA), we are in for a bumpy ride this festive season as the fuel price outlook for December predicts an increase, with petrol prices set to go up by almost R1/litre.
Commenting on unaudited month-end fuel price data released by the Central Energy Fund, the AA said sharp movements in international petroleum prices coupled with a weakening Rand are reasons for the gloomy outlook.
“Oil has continued the strong run we saw throughout November and the trend remains upwards, said the AA.
“The Rand has followed a similar trend, weakening against the US Dollar on average, although it was surprisingly resilient in the days following South Africa’s recent credit ratings downgrade.”
Petrol will go up by 71 cents per litre at midnight and diesel by between 57 and 60 cents.
Illuminating paraffin will cost between 70 and 98 cents per litre more.
The Automobile Association’s Layton Beard says: “Our advice to motorists is that there’s always that temptation to spend more on non-essential items during the holiday period.
“But we’ll advice all of them to be cautious and be alert against these high motoring costs in the new year.”
The new prices are expected to take effect from Wednesday 6 December….
