“Fuel increase death nail to transport industry”

The Road Freight Association (RFA) says the expected petrol price increase of R3.20 cents a litre will be the death nail to the transport industry.

According to the Automobile Association, mid-month unaudited data is pointing towards an increase of almost R2 a litre. Add to this government’s tax holiday of R1.50, set to expire at the end of May, RFA CEO Gavin Kelly says government should find other alternatives to a fuel levy.

“The rand value to the dollar, I think we could affect that and government could play a large role. But in the ’70s and ’80s we produced our own oil out of coal, wasn’t that what Sasol was for and shouldn’t that be one of the things we should be doing to bring down the actual basic price of a litre of oil or litre of fuel in the country,” he says.

Meanwhile, the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) says commuters should brace themselves for taxi fare increases driven by the record high petrol price.

“It is very disappointing that petrol has increased by this much, and it is still going to increase, it makes it very difficult for an industry like our industry which is not subsidised, we also live in the same communities which are struggling to make a living, struggling to get jobs but need to use transport”, says Santaco’s chief strategic manager, Bafana Magagula.