Authorities have warned that coming fuel increases are “just the start” and expect prices to rocket in the next five years.
Next week motorists can expect an increase of at least 20c a litre for petrol (now at R9.72) and 17c a litre for diesel (now at R9.40), which is this year’s fifth consecutive hike.
Since the start of the year petrol has increased by R1.23 and diesel by R1.64.
Jeremy Wakeford, chairman for the Association for the Study of Peak Oil, said the price of crude oil and therefore refined fuels (petrol and diesel) would continue to rise, resulting in major price spikes.
“Prices are being driven fundamentally by rising global demand for oil in the face of supply that has been stagnant for six years and which will begin to decline annually within about two to three years. On top of this, other short-term factors such as a weakening dollar, geopolitical events, especially in the Middle East, and speculative activity tend to amplify the oil price movements.”
Wakeford said prices could drop in this period, because of recessionary economic conditions and demand destruction (consumers reducing consumption because of high prices).
Wakeford said society needed to reduce dependency on imported oil.
He argued that not enough was being done by the government to alleviate future shortages and implement renewable energies.
“Although the South African government has recently boosted planned investment in renewable energy it is not doing nearly enough to mitigate the impending energy shortages that will be caused by global oil depletion.
“What the country needs is a wartime-like mobilisation of resources into energy conservation and efficiency and the generation of local renewable energy.
“As a nation we should be manufacturing wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles on a massive scale.”
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