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.
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