- Fuel tax will drop by R1.50 a litre on petrol and R3 on diesel from 4 November to 1 December, then by R1 and R1.50 until 5 January 2027.
- The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) says the relief will help, but the government must also stop wasting public money.
The tax on the price of petrol and diesel will be cut from 4 November, but the relief will not last.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced the cut to the fuel levy in the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement.
From 4 November to 1 December 2026, the levy will fall by R1.50 a litre on petrol and R3 a litre on diesel.
After that, the cut will shrink to R1 a litre on petrol and R1.50 a litre on diesel until 5 January 2027.
For a 50-litre tank, that is a saving of R75 on petrol and R150 on diesel in the first month, and R50 and R75 after that.
The cut only lowers the tax part of the price, so other factors will still decide what you pay at the pump.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) said cheaper diesel could also ease the cost of transport and food. The R10-billion cost will be paid from money that was previously moved to the Central Energy Fund.
OUTA said the relief will help, but only for a short time. Its CEO Wayne Duvenage said people feel the pressure “every time they fill their tanks, buy groceries or pay for transport”.
OUTA wants the Treasury to look at the long-term tax on fuel and find ways to give lasting relief without cutting money for roads and other key infrastructure.
It also wants the government to show it is cutting waste. The Treasury reviewed R887-billion paid to provinces and municipalities for infrastructure between 2017/18 and 2023/24. It found that many projects were late, unfinished or did not deliver what they promised.
OUTA said this does not mean all the money was wasted. But it wants the Treasury to say which projects failed, who was responsible and what has been done about it.
The Treasury has also added R4.14-billion to the fight against gender-based violence. OUTA said this will mean little while forensic delays continue. The DNA Board told Parliament on 16 October 2026 that only 1.5% of DNA profiles met the 30-day target. Nearly 166,000 DNA samples are still waiting to be processed by police.
The Treasury also found that many municipalities spend too much on running costs and too little on looking after infrastructure. It has stopped paying the usual share of national funds to 69 municipalities that did not pay their creditors.
OUTA wants stronger action against municipalities that mismanage money, without leaving residents to suffer. With local government elections on 4 November, it said voters should ask how their municipalities spent public money.
