Local road users are licking their wounds after midnight petrol hike
Motorists have woken up to a rather costly Wednesday morning, as they make peace with yet another petrol and diesel price increase that took effect from midnight.
Motorists have woken up to a rather costly Wednesday morning, as they make peace with yet another petrol and diesel price increase that took effect from midnight.
The Department of Energy confirmed on Monday that the price of petrol would be increasing as of Wednesday midnight (6 March) and motorists have had little choice but to digest the news. The hike saw the petrol price increase by 74 cents per litre, while diesel saw a 91 to 93 cents per litre increase.
The midnight hike is the second consecutive monthly increase and the second highest petrol price increase after the October 2018 hike. The latter was recorded as the highest petrol price increase in South African history. Addressing Parliament’s oversight committee on energy in February, Minister of Energy, Jeff Radebe hinted at the current increase and said it was due to factors out of the government’s reach.
“Geopolitical events will influence our liquid fuel price in this country,”
“ substantial amounts of crude oil have been removed from the market and this has impacted negatively on the price of petrol and diesel,” said Radebe.
He also credited the increase to import prices of Petroleum Products and the low contribution of the Rand/US dollar exchange rate during the period of review.
Despite these remarks, some local motorists, like Richard Mashimbye from Chiawelo, feel that the government needs to find a solution to halt the frequent hikes.
“For me, it’s hard to take, because my job involves a lot of travelling. Our government really has to explore options and find a way to stop these hikes. We cannot continue like this,” he said.
Another local, Andrew Setshedi, said he was disappointed but not surprised by the announcement.
“Unfortunately it has become a monthly occasion for us,” he said. “of course I am not pleased about it but I cannot say I did not expect it. In fact, I am expecting it to increase again soon enough.”
Setshedi may be proven right in his prediction. Road users are expected to dig even deeper in their pockets for petrol in April. The fuel tax increase announced by Minister of finance, Tito Mboweni during his budget speech in February, means South African motorists could be coughing up an additional 30 cents come April.
Other changes that kicked in as of today, include the increase of illuminating Paraffin. which saw a 76 cents increase per litre and the retail price increase of Maximum LPGas Retail, that experienced an R1, 01 cents per kilogram.
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