Motorists in for another hefty fuel price hike

Cii Radio| Ayesha Ismail|03 April 2018| 16 Rajab 1439

As South Africans brace themselves for an unwelcome hike in value added tax (VAT), consumers will feel a further pinch as the surge in petrol price kicks in on Tuesday night.

Last week, Energy Minister Jeff Radebe announced that motorists will have to fork out 72 cents more for 95 octane while 93 octane is going up by 69 cents from midnight.

The price of all grades of diesel will climb by 65.2 cents per litre.

After the announcement of an increase in fuel and the Road Accident Fund levy of 52 cents a litre combined, it was already clear that an increase in fuel prices was imminent.

Last month, the price took a dive with 36 cents a litre.

The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union’s Zanele Zanele Sabela says this may prove to be a threat to job security in the industry.

“Once the companies can’t go up, we might just be faced with retrenchments.”

While public transport services, like taxis, buses and trains, are exempt from VAT, service providers will have to cover these increases by passing them to consumers through fee hikes.

Source – EWN