‘Government must slash tax on fuel’
The increases are expected to push the petrol price past the R25/litre level.
The government and the African National Congress (ANC) need to slash the fuel levy instead of increasing the price of fuel.
This was a sentiment shared by Rishigen Viranna of the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday following the latest data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) which showed an increase of between R2.27 and R2.36 per litre for petrol from Wednesday.
This is set to be compounded by a further R1.50/litre increase as the government’s fuel tax relief comes to an end. In April, minister of finance, Enoch Godongwana announced a temporary reduction in the general fuel levy by R1.50 per litre for April and May.
The increases are expected to push the petrol price past the R25/litre level. Speaking to Fever, Viranna said as the DA they are protesting against the R3 increase because the majority of the increase is not due to the oil prices or the exchange rate.
Viranna added that the hike is actually due to the tax on fuel. “We are trying to say that the fuel levy needs to be cut. The fuel tax takes about 30% of the price, if they do away with the tax on fuel, then the price will not rise,” said Viranna.
He added that the consequences of the fuel hikes are pretty severe. Viranna said it is not only petrol that goes up, but everything related to it such as food and transport costs.
He said with challenges such as poverty and hunger, people will be severely impacted by the increase. “Government and the ANC can do something about this such as cutting the tax on fuel to make sure that the price of fuel goes down. We are calling on ordinary South Africans to support us in saying that the fuel levy and fuel tax must be slashed,” said Viranna.
Meanwhile, the national Democratic Alliance has also written to Godongwana, asking him to step in and introduce new interventions.
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