DURBAN - The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) announced on Twitter on Sunday that petrol price increases have pushed them to review their decision to suspend fare increases.
This is after the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy announced yet another massive fuel increase from midnight this Wednesday (March 2).
Both grades of petrol will increase by R1.46/ per litre, diesel will increase between R1.44/l and R1.48/l and illuminating paraffin will increase by R1.21/l.
In the first tweet on Sunday morning, Santaco said: “The petrol price increases for the past 4 months at the very least, has put the industry in a corner. Pressure is too much, we will review our decision to suspend increases.”
In the second tweet in the evening, Santaco said: “While fuel is a significant cost towards taxi operations, it's not the only cost. All other costs have increased, fuel just happen to be the steepest rise. It pushes us to review. This is now up to our National Executive Committee to finalise this matter.”
Speaking to the Daily News on Monday, Santaco KZN office manager Sifiso Shangase said a meeting would be held on Wednesday to guide the way forward.
“We will look at our mandate and see what adjustments would have to be done,” Shangase said.
“We will also look at it in terms of the business but also think about its effects on commuters.”
He said another factor they would have to consider was that the increase was linked to the conflict in Russia and Ukraine, therefore, all factors would have to be taken into consideration.
The petrol price increases for the past 4 months at the very least, has put the industry in a corner. Pressure is too much, we will review our decision to suspend increases.
— SANTACO (@SA_Taxis) February 27, 2022
While fuel is a significant cost towards taxi operations, it's not the only cost. All other costs have increased, fuel just happen to be the steepest rise. It pushes us to review. This is now up to our National Executive Committee to finalise this matter.
— SANTACO (@SA_Taxis) February 27, 2022
The Automobile Association (AA) said the increase will have a sharp and immediate effect on the poor, and a long-term impact on inflation.
The AA said that for the first time in history teh cost of 95 octane petrol inland will rise above R21 a litre, and by a significant margin.
“ As of Wednesday, this fuel will cost R21.60/l while at the coast it will cost R20.88/l, the first time it has breached the R20/l level. Significantly, the price of illuminating paraffin will also rise to new highs with this fuel costing R13.18/l inland and R12.36/l at the coast. This fuel is used extensively in poorer communities for heating, cooking and lighting, and will be in higher demand as the country moves from a hot summer into a more moderate autumn over the next few weeks,’the AA noted.
It said the increases for March were mainly attributable to rising international petroleum prices as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and would have been more severe had the rand not stabilised against the US dollar in the last few weeks.
The rand showed positive movement against the US currency and shaved some negativity off the final adjusted prices.
The AA said that the outlook for April remained unclear but Russia’s military action in Ukraine could push international oil prices higher which will again impact locally.
“For now, it’s a question of wait and see how these prices move in the next few weeks. One silver lining, though, is that any potential increases will not be combined with increases to fuel taxes as the Minister of Finance earlier this week announced the General Fuel and Road Accident Fund levies will not increase this year. This is good news, but must be tempered by what happens in the next few weeks to the overall pricing of fuel,” the AA said.
Daily News