‘Enough is enough’ – Steenhuisen warns fuel price hikes could lead to unrest
DA leader John
Steenhuisen believes the time has come for all South Africans to unite in
opposition to the continuous increase in the price of fuel.
Steenhuisen briefed the media in Cape Town on Thursday on the party’s plans to slash the fuel price.
The briefing came just a day after unaudited data from the Central Energy Fund warned of massive fuel price increases across the board in June.
Experts and economists estimate petrol could go up by almost R4 a litre, which will see it breaching the R25 a litre mark.
Steenhuisen said government needs to realise the increases could make it impossible for many South Africans to put food on the table.
“If we do not stop this fuel price increase, millions more people will fall into poverty, children will be stunted, people will starve, businesses will go bankrupt, jobs will be lost and mass riots could be sparked, such as in Sri Lanka last month in response to fuel price hikes there.
“The timing of this massive petrol price hike could not be worse with South Africans battling under the weight of 46% unemployment, rolling blackouts, irrational Covid regulations, flooding, drought and collapsing service delivery.”
READ: DA sends letter to finance, energy ministers ahead of looming fuel price hike
The party wants government to scrap the general fuel levy and exempt insured motorists from paying the Road Accident Fund levy.
“The general fuel levy of R3.93 per litre is little more than a corruption tax,” Steenhuisen said.
“Road users are effectively reimbursing the National Treasury for taxpayer funds lost to corruption and wasteful expenditure. Through a SARS tax rebate, government should exempt those who already pay for comprehensive third-party insurance from the RAF levy. This includes bus, taxi and transport companies, and private commuters.
“This would free up the RAF from claims for those drivers and save those drivers another R2.18 per litre, who would get this back as a tax rebate from SARS.”
