The DMPR said on Tuesday the wholesale price of diesel would increase by R5.27 per litre rather than the previously announced R6.19. (Photo: Dwayne Senior / Bloomberg via Getty Images) Diesel prices in South Africa are spiking on Wednesday, but not by as much as originally announced.
The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) said on Tuesday that it had erred in its calculations announced on Monday and that the wholesale price of diesel would increase by R5.27 per litre rather than the previously announced R6.19 — taking it to R31.17 instead of R32.09.
“During the calculation of fuel prices for May 2026, the additional 93.00 cents per litre reduction in the fuel levy on diesel was erroneously captured as 0.93 cents per litre. This resulted in a higher increase in the wholesale price of R6.19 per litre instead of R5.27 per litre for diesel,” said the DMPR.
The increase remains massive and will add fuel to the flames of domestic inflation, but at least it is not as steep as it was. The R3.27 hike per litre for petrol to near record highs remains unchanged.
This is the latest in a series of blunders by the DMPR — formerly the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy — over the years under ANC heavyweight Gwede Mantashe. A few years ago, the department failed to provide Stats SA with monthly mining and production data on time.
This list includes the needless and seemingly endless delays in rolling out a functional mining cadastre to address the backlogs in mining and prospecting applications and the recent foot-dragging in finalising a draft Mineral Resources Development Bill — missteps that are leaving a cloud of uncertainty for investors in South Africa’s mining sector.
The DMPR makes the fuel price adjustment every month — a key part of its job — but never does so at a set date or time ahead of the change, which takes place on the first Wednesday of each month.
Miscalculating the fuel price adjustment has knock-on effects. Economists and analysts on Monday would have crunched the diesel adjustment into their inflation outlooks, and this can have a material impact on the bond and rand markets.
And petrol stations across South Africa would have been preparing to adjust for the price announced on Monday, and some may have missed the latest announcement, which came late on Tuesday.
There are mistakes the DMPR simply cannot make; this one is the latest in a string of worrying signs about a department that has a critical role to play in South Africa's economy. DM