Fuel prices will fall by a record in April, the Automobile Association of South Africa predicted on Friday, but few motorists and businesses with fleets will be able to take advantage as the country is in lockdown for at least the next three weeks.

The AA said in a statement that South Africans will see “the largest fuel price decreases on record at the end of March”. It based its figures on the unaudited month-end fuel price data released by the Central Energy Fund.

The fuel price will be adjusted on Wednesday, 1 April.

“The crude oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia continues unabated, with demand for oil further suppressed as world economies retreat due to the coronavirus pandemic,” the AA said. “Not even the precipitous fall of the rand against the US dollar has been able to arrest the fuel price reductions.”

Unleaded 95 octane petrol is set to fall by R2.18/l, with 93 octane set to decrease by R2.05/l. Both grades of diesel are expected to fall by around R1.65/l.

“In practice, all these drops will be slightly less, due to the 16c/l increase in the fuel levy and 9c/l increase in the Road Accident Fun levy,” the AA said.

‘Unfortunate’

“Notwithstanding the addition of the 25c for the fuel levies, the expected decreases will bring the country’s fuel prices to levels last seen in late 2017 and early 2018.

“It is unfortunate that these massive reductions are coming at a time where private motoring is severely curtailed, but we would remind motorists that in terms of the lockdown regulations, they are still allowed to fill up their vehicles.”