Depending on the size of their vehicle’s tank, motorists in South Africa pay between R338.40 and R601.60 in tax when they refuel their cars.

However, it could be worse, as the government has held off on hiking the Road Accident Fund (RAF) and general fuel levies (GFL) for the 2024/25 financial year.

During his 2024 Budget Speech in February, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the National Treasury had decided not to increase these taxes to provide relief to motorists.

“As in the 2022 and 2023 Budgets, government again proposes no changes to the general fuel levy or the Road Accident Fund levy, resulting in tax relief of around R4 billion,” National Treasury said in its 2024 Budget Review document.

“We are mindful of the already high cost of living and the impact fuel prices have on food and transport costs,” Godongwana added.

According to Wayne Duvenage, CEO of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), South Africa’s fuel prices are made up of the following components:

• BFP — the cost of the petrol before any money is spent on the many other taxes and levies applied.

• “Other levies” — these comprise transport, secondary storage, distribution costs, and one or two smaller charges.

• Wholesale and retail margins — the markup wholesalers and retailers are allowed to add.

• Fuel levy — the tax on each litre of fuel sold.

• RAF levy — levy placed on fuel to fund the RAF.

Duvenage disputed government’s claim that it hadn’t increased the GFL for three years.

According to data from Outa, South Africa increased the GFL from R3.42 in 2022/23 to R3.86 in 2023/24.

The GFL and RAF levies currently sit at R3.86 and R2.18, respectively. While “other levies” applied to fuel prices total R1.48.

This means South African motorists are paying R7.52 per litre of fuel to cover these taxes.

MyBroadband calculated the tax motorists pay when they fill their tanks completely. We selected tank sizes ranging from 45 litres to 80 litres.

South African motorists whose cars have 45-litre tanks pay nearly R340 in tax when they fill up with fuel.

Many common vehicles on South Africa’s roads have 50 or 55-litre tanks. These customers pay between R376 and R414.60 per litre to cover the RAF levy, GFL tax, and other minor charges.

Larger vehicles are often fitted with 60-litre tanks, while popular bakkies like the Toyota Hilux usually have an 80-litre fuel capacity.

South African motorists with 60-litre tanks are paying R451.20 in tax to fill up.

Meanwhile, those with large 80-litre tanks will pay more than R600 in tax each time they fill up.

The table below compares the total price of filling various tank sizes to the amount paid in tax for the same amount of fuel. We used May 2024’s inland unleaded 95 price of R25.49 for our calculations.