South Africa's energy department on Monday announced motorists will have to fork out 71 cents more per litre of petrol, while the wholesale price of diesel is set to increase between 57 cents and 60 cents a litre.

The department, in a statement, attributed the price hikes to the international prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin increasing, as well as currency fluctuations.

"The Rand depreciated against the US Dollar during the period under review, on average, when compared to the previous period," the statement said.

"This led to a higher contribution to the Basic Fuels Price on petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by 23.15c/l, 23.03c/l and 23.34c/l respectively."

The wholesale price of illuminating paraffin will go up by 73 cents a litre, while the maximum retail price for Liquid Petrolium (LP) gas will increase by 204 cents per kilogramme.

The price increases take effect on Wednesday, December 6.