Taxi fares to increase from next month
Taxi commuters are expected to have to dig deeper into their pockets following an announcement by the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) on Monday.
The council announced that taxi fares will increase by R1 per journey across the province from August 1. This will affect commuters from Mbombela to areas around KaNyamazane, Pienaar, Daantjie, Msogwaba, Matsafeni, Riverside Mall, Kamagugu and White River.
According to the spokesperson for Santaco in Mpumalanga, Muntu Gama, the increase will cause a serious blow to its commuters. “With the petrol price increasing every month, we are left with no choice but to increase our fares. We know it will affect the budget for our commuters. Normally, we increase the fares just once a year. We need to navigate increased fuel prices, maintenance costs and paying vehicle instalments while keeping prices affordable for commuters,” said Gama.
According to the Automobile Association (AA), South Africans can expect another increase in the price of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin in August.
The association said that current data from the Central Energy Fund suggests a price rise of 19 cents a litre for petrol, 13 cents for diesel and 22 cents for illuminating paraffin. It was commenting on unaudited mid-month fuel price data released by the fund.
This would increase the petrol price to R16.21 a litre inland and R15.72 on the coast.
