Taxi fares to rise with August petrol hikes

Taxi fares are expected to increase on Wednesday in the wake of the August fuel price hike.

The petrol price will be increasing by 1 cent on August 1.

The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) said the taxi fare increase would affect local and long-distance taxis.

It is reported the increase in local taxi fares may increase by as much as R10, while long distance could go up by as much as R20.

Santaco said the increase in fares was fuelled by the hike in petrol prices and the increase in the fuel levy, saying the fares would be reviewed next year in June.

In a statement, the taxi council said while it sympathised with commuters in light of the fare increase, taxi operators, however, would struggle to remain in business due to the petrol price and fuel levy increase.

SowetanLive reported Santaco denied that the taxi industry would take part in a planned strike against the petrol price.

Santaco was quoted as saying: “While the taxi industry feels the pinch of the petrol price‚ Santaco believes a taxi strike on petrol is not an option for now. Instead Santaco wishes to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa in order to find alternative ways of managing the pressure on taxis. This‚ however‚ does not take away considerations for Santaco to embark on a strike or any other action.”

Meanwhile, various organisations, including the Democratic Alliance (DA) Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) and taxi associations in Tshwane plan to march to National Treasury on Tuesday to protest the fuel price hike.

Tshwane traffic officials have urged motorists to avoid streets in the central business district.

The organisations want the Road Accident Fund (RAF) and general fuel levy reduced by 20% or R1, and a memorandum of their demands will be handed over to National Treasury.

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