By Leila Samodien
As the country braces itself for another hefty petrol price increase, taxi organisations are mulling over fare increases that are likely to make a major dent in commuters' pockets.
The South African National Taxi Council warned on Sunday that many taxi owners were planning to raise fares by as much as R1 a ride.
The increases comes in the wake of the announcement of a 61c a litre petrol price hike, which is to be implemented at midnight on Wednesday.
Santaco chairperson in the Western Cape, Junaid Peters, said individual taxi owners ultimately decided whether to put their prices up.
But, given the extent of the rise in petrol prices, most owners were expected to raise fares soon.
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"Some of them are putting up their fares now, others will put them up later," he said.
In the Western Cape, owners were considering increasing their fares by an average of R1, Peters added.
"In the end, it is not the taxi owners who are going to suffer it is the people they are the ones who will end up paying more because of the petrol (price)," he said.
However, the country's two biggest taxi associations, Cata and Codeta, said they had not yet taken a definite stand on the matter.
Both associations were to meet today to discuss fare increases.
Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (Codeta) chairman Sydney Ncathe said they had not yet held discussions, but that fare hikes could be on the cards.
"Usually we don't put up our prices (if there is a petrol price increase) but since it is so high and the petrol already went up not so long ago, we will have to discuss it and see what we will do either way, we (as Codeta members) will be united in the decision," he said.
Ncathe slammed the provincial government and Santaco, saying the associations were not approached to come to a decision that would give the industry "one voice" on the fares issue.
But he agreed with Peters in his claims that commuters would end up having to bear the burden of price increases.
He said the taxi industry could also feel the effects of petrol hikes in the long run because commuters might "take their business elsewhere" and use buses and trains.
Both Metrorail and Golden Arrow confirmed yesterday that they would not increase their fares.
Golden Arrow spokesperson Vuyisile Mdoda said they were "keeping an eye on the situation" but that there were no imminent changes in fares.
Metrorail spokeswoman Riana Jacobs said ticket prices "last went up in 2003" and Metrorail was not considering another increase.
Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) chairman Stephen Williams said his association was to seek a way forward today, but would not comment until a decision was reached.
Meanwhile the prices of diesel and paraffin are also expected to go up, with diesel costing 78c more a litre and paraffin 76c a litre at wholesale price and R1.02 at its single maximum national retail price.
- This article was originally published on page 6 of Cape Argus on March 03, 2008
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