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Between April and 30 June 2026, National Treasury proved that emergency fuel tax relief is legally and economically viable, cutting petrol levies by up to R3.00/litre and reducing the diesel fuel levy to R0.00. However, on 1 July 2026, Treasury allowed those measures to expire, snapping fuel levies back to full strength (R4.10/l on petrol and R3.93/l on diesel). Despite November facing a price shock far greater than the conditions that triggered the initial intervention, Treasury is refusing to reinstate relief.

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) has submitted a formal bid to National Treasury via the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to hike the RAF fuel levy to R3.00 per litre—an increase of roughly 33% over current levels.

The Department of Transport is drafting regulations to introduce a brand-new mandatory tax on annual vehicle licence disc renewals, justifying the measure as a way to capture revenue from electric vehicles (EVs) and offset falling fuel volumes. In reality, it establishes a blanket penalty on every vehicle owner in the country.

The price consists of three core components:

1. 1. The Basic Fuel Price (BFP): The landed cost of importing refined product (crude/refined international spot prices, ocean freight, insurance, and cargo dues)
   2. Domestic Taxes & Levies: The General Fuel Levy (GFL), Road Accident Fund (RAF) Levy, Carbon Fuel Tax, and Customs & Excise Duty
   3. Regulated Margins & Transport: Retail profit margins, wholesale margins, and the transport zone differential (pipeline, rail, and road delivery costs from coastal ports to inland areas).

Yes. Between April and 30 June 2026, National Treasury implemented phased emergency relief, reducing the General Fuel Levy by up to R3.00/l on petrol and lowering the diesel levy to R0.00/l in May. Treasury explicitly stated this was necessary to protect the economy from inflation. However, on 1 July 2026, the relief was terminated, snapping levies back to R4.10/l on petrol and R3.93/l on diesel. This campaign demands that Treasury reinstate that relief immediately.

The RAF levy is currently over R2.18 per litre. The Fund claims that because motorists reduced fuel consumption by 5% in 2025/26 (eroding levy collections to R48.1 billion), it needs the levy increased to R3.00 per litre to cover its liabilities. However, the Fund’s insolvency is driven by internal legal fee leakages and litigation backlogs rather than inadequate public funding.

The Department of Transport is drafting regulations to introduce a mandatory transitional fee tied to annual motor vehicle licence disc renewals. While the department argues this will capture revenue from electric vehicles that pay no fuel levy, the tax is being structured as a blanket surcharge on all vehicle owners, hitting petrol and diesel drivers twice.

No. Under the Petroleum Products Act, the retail price of petrol is legally fixed by the state down to the cent. It is illegal for a petrol station to discount petrol to attract customers. Only wholesale diesel prices are unregulated at the retail pump, which is why diesel prices vary between filling stations. This campaign calls for ending fixed retail petrol pricing and implementing a maximum price cap instead.

In August 2026, 4,620 citizens participated via Dear South Africa on the draft Strategic Petroleum Stock Policy. Over 91.95% of participants rejected the draft, with 1,414 submissions warning government against passing storage and compliance costs down to motorists at the pump. This new campaign builds on that verified administrative record, showing that government ignored public warnings and is now attempting to extract revenue through new taxes.

Your submission is addressed and delivered directly to the primary executive decision-makers and parliamentary oversight bodies responsible for fuel pricing, taxation, and transport policy:

• • The Minister of Finance (Mr. Enoch Godongwana, MP) & National Treasury: The executive authority responsible for statutory fuel tax schedules, the General Fuel Levy (GFL), and Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) revenue approvals.
  • The Minister of Transport (Ms. Barbara Creecy, MP) & Department of Transport: The executive authority overseeing the Road Accident Fund (RAF), the National Road Traffic Act regulations, and the proposed annual vehicle licence disc surcharge.
  • The Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (Mr. Gwede Mantashe, MP) & DMPR: The department administering the Petroleum Products Act, the Basic Fuel Price (BFP) import parity formula, and regulated retail petrol margins.
  • The Parliament of South Africa: Specifically, the Standing Committee on Finance and the Portfolio Committee on Transport, which exercise constitutional oversight over statutory levies and draft transport legislation.

This campaign addresses a dangerous policy contradiction unfolding in real time:

1. 1. An Imminent Fuel Price Crisis: The Central Energy Fund (CEF) projects a record +R4.58/litre petrol hike and near R3.00/litre diesel surge for November.
   2. Refusal to Reinstate Proven Relief: Between April and 30 June 2026, National Treasury proved that temporary fuel tax relief works by slashing petrol levies by up to R3.00/l and waiving the diesel levy entirely. Treasury allowed those measures to expire on 30 June, restoring full taxes. Refusing to step in now—when projected price shocks exceed those of earlier this year—is economically destructive.
   3. An Unprecedented Double-Tax Squeeze: While motorists drown under pump prices, the RAF has submitted a formal bid to Treasury to hike the fuel levy to R3.00 per litre, while the Department of Transport is drafting a new mandatory annual tax on car licence disc renewals.
   4. Closing the Policy Window: These proposals are currently before Treasury and Cabinet for inclusion in national budget frameworks and regulatory gazettes. Public participation must be recorded on the official administrative record before these tax hikes are locked into law.

This is not a traditional online petition. Traditional petitions bundle thousands of digital signatures onto a single list, which government departments legally treat as a single, collective representation and routinely file away.

When you participate via Dear South Africa:

• • Individual Statutory Delivery:
    Your input is authenticated, formatted, and dispatched as an independent, standalone legal representation under Section 4 of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) and Section 33 of the Constitution. Decision-makers are legally bound to log, process, and evaluate every individual submission on the official administrative record.
  • Audited Public Participation Report:
    At the close of the campaign, DearSA extracts and analyzes the full dataset, compiling a comprehensive, audited, and timestamped Public Participation Report. This document contains complete qualitative summaries, categorical concern breakdowns, and economic demographic matrices.
  • Formal Presentation to Leadership:
    The final report is formally hand-delivered and tabled directly before the Ministers of Finance and Transport, their Directors-General, and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committees.
  • A Court-Ready Administrative Paper Trail:
    If the executive ignores public evidence and enacts procedurally flawed, irrational double-tax regulations, this audited record provides the evidentiary foundation for civil society, industry bodies, and legal counsel to challenge the state’s decisions in the High Court under judicial review.

The objective is to establish an unassailable public mandate forcing government to abandon punitive vehicle taxes and implement immediate economic relief. The campaign demands four specific outcomes:

1. 1. Immediate Emergency Pump Relief:
      Compel the Minister of Finance and National Treasury to exercise executive authority and reinstate an emergency reduction of at least R1.50 to R2.00 per litre on the General Fuel Levy (GFL)—replicating the relief that ran earlier in 2026—to neutralize the catastrophic November price shock.
   2. Withdrawal of the Licence Disc Surcharge:
      Force the Minister of Transport to halt and scrap draft regulations proposing a mandatory annual tax on car licence disc renewals, preventing unfair double-taxation of vehicle owners.
   3. Rejection of the R3.00/Litre RAF Levy Hike:
      Compel National Treasury and the Standing Committee on Finance to reject the RAF’s MTEF bid to increase the fuel levy, mandating that the RAF Act be amended to cap legal contingency fees and eliminate administrative waste before any additional revenue is considered.
   4. Retail Petrol Price Deregulation:
      Require the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources to amend the Petroleum Products Act regulations, replacing rigid state-fixed retail petrol prices with maximum price caps so forecourts and retailers can compete and offer price discounts directly to motorists at the pump.