R28 a litre and rising: South Africa's fuel crisis is now a full-blown cost-of-living emergency

There is something that is almost cruel about the timing. South Africans who spent most of 2025 cautiously optimistic about easing inflation and the prospect of interest rate relief have now been handed the most expensive litre of petrol in the history of the country. Effective 3 June 2026, 95-octane petrol in Gauteng rose to R28.06 per litre, up from R26.63 the previous month, confirming what many feared but hoped would be avoided. This is not merely a blip. It is the visible tip of a much deeper structural crisis.

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