Cape Town – Motorists will get some relief at the pumps for March, with the pump price of petrol dropping 36 cents a litre, the Department of Energy (DoE) said on Friday.
The decrease comes into effect on March 7. Among the reasons given by the DoE is that the average international product prices of fuels - petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin - decreased during the period.
Rand strength was also a contributing factor, with the exchange rate between February 2 and March 1 an average of R11.82 to the greenback, compared to the R12.20/$ of the previous period. This led to a lower contribution to the basic fuel prices on fuels.
The price of diesel will go down as much as 47c/l. The cost of illuminating paraffin is down 30c/l and LP Gas is down 69c/Kg.
Earlier this week the Automobile Association said that if the rand maintains its current stable trend against the dollar, international petroleum prices will likely be the main driver of fuel price changes in the near future.
