Good news for people going on Easter Weekend trips

South Africans driving far over the coming Easter Weekend will spend far less on fuel than they did over the same period last year, as the prices of petrol and diesel have come down substantially.

As of April 2025, the retail price of a litre of unleaded 95 petrol bought inland is R21.62, nearly 14% cheaper than its R25.12 price in April 2024.

The wholesale price of 50ppm diesel is currently R19.35, compared with R22.60 a year ago. That also makes the bakkie juice about 14% cheaper than in April 2024.

The biggest factor in these declines has been plunging international oil prices, which lowered the cost of imported petroleum products in South Africa.

The average cost of a barrel of Brent Crude oil during the Department of Energy’s pricing review period for April 2024 was about $87.

During the review period, April 2025’s prices were roughly 16% lower at $75 per barrel.

The rand was also slightly stronger, averaging roughly R18.25 to the dollar compared with R18.84 last year. The exchange rate matters because oil is generally sold in US dollars.

On the negative side, South Africa’s toll fees were increased by 4.84% from March 2025.

However, the overall impact this will have on travel costs along major routes is small compared to the decrease in fuel prices.

MyBroadband calculated how much it would cost to cover eight of the most popular long-distance routes in South Africa in April 2025.

Our analysis relied on official toll fees tracked by Foresight Publications, as well as three different fuel consumptions and three fuel types: unleaded 95, unleaded 93, and 50ppm diesel.

The first consumption of 7.4 litres per 100 kilometres was taken from the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) latest average for light-duty vehicles in South Africa.

The second was drawn from the Volkswagen Polo Vivo, South Africa’s best-selling passenger car in 2024.

The entry-level 55kW Polo Vivo consumes about 4.5 litres per 100 kilometres, making it a highly efficient option.

Lastly, we also calculated roughly what it would cost to use the country’s best-selling diesel-powered vehicle — the Toyota Hilux bakkie.

This calculation is an estimate because retail diesel prices are not regulated and can vary greatly from one station to the next, whereas the government prescribes retail petrol prices.

For our analysis, we added a 15% retail margin to the wholesale diesel price, the same margin applied to the petrol price.

Below is a summary of how much it will cost to cover South Africa’s most popular holiday routes over the 2025 Easter Weekend.

Average South African vehicle — 7.4 litres per 100km

Volkswagen Polo Vivo 1.4 55kW — 4.5 litres per 100km

Toyota Hilux 2.4 GD-6 — 7.7 litres per 100km