Monthly fuel hike hits taxi industry

On Sunday, 28 April, the Minister of Energy, Mr Jeff Radebe, announced another fuel-price increase, starting from 1 May. 

The recent petrol price increase is the fifth one since the beginning of this year. The other fuel hikes were from 2 January, 6 February, 6 March, 3 April and the recent one from 1 May.

In his statement, Radebe said that South Africa’s fuel prices were adjusted on a monthly basis, influenced by international and local factors. International factors include the fact that South Africa imports both crude oil and finished products at a price set at the international level, including importation costs.

The local taxi association showed huge concern over the monthly increase in fuel prices. Mr Stanley Makananise, secretary of the Dzanani 2 Taxi Association, told Limpopo Mirror that the price increase of fuel worried him. “I don’t see why the petrol prices increase every month. Where will we find the money? And our roads still contain a lot of potholes, which are also costing us money.”

Another taxi driver, Mr Robert Marubini, said that reaching their daily targets was now very difficult “and we feel that one day we will be out of jobs, because the taxi industry is no longer making money”.

Khiphi Nkhumeleni, who uses his own transport to work, said that he would support the EFF in future, “because the ANC is failing to deliver services. This ANC-led government has never been considerate to taxpayers and citizenry”.

Date:10 May 2019

By: Maanda Bele

Maanda  Bele, born and raised in Nzhelele Siloam, studied journalism at the Tshwane University of Technology.

He is passionate about current news and international affairs.

He worked as part of the Zoutnet team as an intern in 2017.

He is currently a freelance journalist specialising in news from the Vhembe district.

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