It is good news that the fuel price is decreasing tonight, but for most South African consumers this will not make a significant difference, as they are so deep in debt and have so little income that they will go into 2026 with the same despair they had a year ago. Minister of mineral and petroleum resources, Gwede Mantashe, announced earlier this week that the price of petrol and diesel will decrease, but while this is welcome news, the reality is that motorists will still need to fork out over R20.00 per litre for both 93 and 95 Unleaded petrol at the pumps. The decrease of 66 cents per litre for Unleaded 93 brings the price down to R20.64, while motorists filling up with 95 Unleaded will pay R20.75 per litre.
The price of diesel dropped from R20.00 to R18.52. However, themajority of South African households still enter the new year under extreme financial duress, as debt, school fees and essential living costs converge in early January, along with high household debt and an ever-increasing gap between income and essential expenses, Neil Roets, CEO of Debt Rescue, says. “2025 was one of the toughest years yet for South Africans from all walks of life, and the escalating cost of living locked millions of citizens into a debt cycle that they cannot escape, while the most vulnerable among us continue to suffer through each month, scraping by on wages or grants that exclude them from providing for their families.” Data from the TransUnion Consumer Credit Index for the first half of 2025 shows that debt absorbed nearly two-thirds of consumers’ household income, with national household debt remaining elevated at about 62.7% of disposable income.
This aligns with TradingEconomics figures, which show the ratio hovering above 62%, well above the historical average of 52.3%. Roets warns these statistics suggest a thin margin for error in household budgets, making consumers vulnerable to financial shocks. “The reality is that when debt absorbs such a high ratio of a household’s income, disruptions such as unexpected school expenses or food price increases can trigger significant financial strain, which in turn exacerbates the emotional burden that weighs consumers down.
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This is fast becoming a national crisis.” He points out that consumers increasingly use high-interest, short-term unsecured credit and personal loans to bridge the gap between stagnant incomes and rising expenses. A significant proportion of individuals applying for debt counselling in the third quarter of 2025 (95%) reported holding at least one personal loan, while 57% had payday loans.
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