The South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) has expressed worry that the latest bout of fuel price increases will chase commuters away from using their services.
It comes as SANTACO has increased transport fares for local and long-distance travel since the beginning of this month. This was informed by the April fuel price hike.
Local fares have increased by R2 to R6 and long-distance trips by R10 to R13. The taxi council noted that they are trying to balance operating costs with affordability for passengers.
Meanwhile the price of a litre of diesel has officially broken the R30 mark as the new fuel prices came into effect at midnight on Wednesday May 6th. The price jumped by more than R5 a litre from last month.
Motorists owning petrol vehicles will pay over R26 for a litre for this type of fuel.
A decimal point error has shook the diesel price announcement as the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources confirmed that the diesel increase is actually, R5.27. The error came from miscalculating levy relief at 0.93c instead of 93c.
Officials corrected the figures after informing stakeholders. Meanwhile, a litre of petrol will increase in price by R3.27. Paraffin will also see a hike of R4.22, while the retail price of LPGas will increase by R5.78 per kilogram in the Western Cape.
The record-high fuel prices are expected to significantly increase the prices of food and other essentials as the cost of transport rises, putting pressure on consumer inflation. The high fuel prices are a result of the American and the Israeli entity’s illegal war on Iran.
