South Africans’ reliance on minibus taxis, buses and private cars to commute to school and work each day puts them at the mercy of fuel price shocks and exposes them – and many of those who walk – to dangerous vehicle emissions.

Petrol and diesel prices hit record highs this month, rounding out a year of severe fuel price volatility. Added to this, a significant number of premature deaths and severe respiratory disease each year are linked to vehicle emissions.

“South Africans pay for their commute twice: once at the pump and again with their health. Our national vehicle emission standards are 20 years old, but in 2027 lower-sulphur fuels will arrive, which is a positive step for cleaner air,” says Prian Reddy, Senior Researcher, Africa at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT)

“With this cleaner fuel, we can now consider stricter vehicle emission standards to improve air quality and public health, and vehicle efficiency regulations, which can lead to the reduction of household spending on transport.”

The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources’ Clean Fuels Two (CF2) regulations are expected to take effect in July 2027. This will upgrade national fuel quality specifications, significantly reducing harmful emissions, lowering the sulphur content in petrol and diesel, and bringing the possibility of stricter fuel efficiency standards closer to meeting the national Green Transport Strategy goals.

Implementing vehicle efficiency regulations will improve the fuel efficiency of the vehicle fleet by enabling the use of modern, advanced vehicle technologies. The fuel efficiency improvement will cut bills at the pump, reducing South African household and business exposure to fuel price shocks.

“Clean Fuels Two opens the door in July 2027, but South Africa needs matching vehicle emission standards to walk through it. And for buses and trucks, going straight to zero emissions is the fastest route to cleaner air,” says Oscar Delgado, ICCT Heavy-Duty Vehicles Programme Director.

South Africa already has support. The Zero-Emission Bus Rapid Deployment Accelerator (ZEBRA) partnership, led by the ICCT and C40 Cities, a global network of nearly 100 mayors supporting city-level climate action, is supporting South African cities on electric bus trials, minibus taxi electrification and industrial policy. In Latin America, ZEBRA has helped put 10 000 electric buses on the road, backed by national policy, city procurement commitments, financing and local manufacturing.

Africa’s electric bus numbers on ZEBRA’s e-bus radar “tracker” are still a fraction of that. But local manufacturers have shown that electric bus bodies can be built with 90% local content, which matters given the Public Procurement Act’s local-content rules for vehicles and South Africa’s just energy transition (JET) goals. The JET aims to shift the economy away from fossil fuels to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, while protecting vulnerable workers and communities.

Some South Africans are already switching to electric vehicles, driven by the global spike in oil prices and improving technology that makes electric vehicles more affordable, efficient and longer-ranging, among other factors, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa reports. 

“South Africans aren’t waiting for policy to catch up. Sales of electric vehicles this year have almost matched last year’s sales, with a full quarter still to go. People can see that electric vehicles protect them from oil price spikes. But we’re still taxing electric vehicles as luxury goods, which prices out many South Africans from purchasing them. 

“Fixing vehicle emission standards, boosting the switch to electric vehicles and using electric vehicles for public transport would cut fuel bills for households and transport operators, and make the switch affordable for more than just early adopters,” says Reddy.