Money Desk
Godongwana faces fuel levy pressure before 2026 MTBPS
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana faces mounting pressure to suspend the fuel levy in the 2026 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement to provide cost relief.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is scheduled to deliver the 2026 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in Cape Town on 21 October 2026, facing demands to cut fuel costs for South Africans.
The Concerned Citizens of South Africa (CCSA) protested on 19 October 2026, calling for a reduction in fuel prices and the removal of the General Fuel Levy and the Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy.
Fiscal Room Has Narrowed
Professor Waldo Krugell of North-West University said the government had needed a primary surplus equal to 2.9% of GDP to stabilise debt before the Middle East conflict shock. It now required 3.7% of GDP, after the shock added an annual financial burden equal to 0.8% of the economy.
Krugell argued that direct support would better target poorer households than fuel relief. “About R1 billion, one rand in every seventeen, reached the poorest 40% of households. The same R17.2 billion paid through the child support grant would have been R1 364 per child: more than two months’ extra grant.”
“If he does want to help households, specifically poor households, it’s much better to just take that money and up the child support grant, something like that. The system’s already there. Nothing new to administer or anything like that,” he said.
Fuel Relief And Price Changes
The government cut the fuel levy by R3 per litre in April 2026 and reduced the diesel levy to zero. Fuel adjustments in October 2026 subsequently increased diesel prices by R2.84 per litre and petrol prices by R3.33 per litre.
| Measure | Change |
|---|---|
| Fuel levy, April 2026 | Cut by R3/l |
| Diesel levy, April 2026 | Reduced to zero |
| Diesel price, October 2026 | Increased by R2.84/l |
| Petrol price, October 2026 | Increased by R3.33/l |
For households, the October petrol increase was 33 cents per litre more than the April fuel levy reduction. Treasury spent at least R17.2 billion on fuel levy relief during the 2026 period.
The Cost Of Levy Relief
Fuel levy relief costs approximately R2 billion in foregone income per litre per month, according to Waldo Krugell, Professor of Economics at North-West University. The estimate points to the revenue implications of any further relief considered by Enoch Godongwana.
“So, roughly speaking, relief per litre per month costs R2 billion in foregone income. And then, if you suspend the whole fuel levy, it’ll cost money, and whether he has the money is difficult to say,” Krugell said.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy, meanwhile, refused to apply to the Treasury for an increase in the Road Accident Fund (RAF) fuel levy.
