DURBAN - South Africans are waiting with bated breath to find out how much they will be paying for fuel from midnight.
While the fuel price increases are usually announced on the Monday before the Wednesday they are meant to come into effect, there is no announcement yet from the Minister of Minerals and Energy Gwede Mantashe.
DA Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Kevin Mileham issued a statement asking the minister what was going on?
“Mere hours before the expected fuel price increase, and there is still no word from government. What is going on, Minister Mantashe?” he said.
Speaking to The Mercury, Mileham said the fuel price was normally announced anywhere between five to seven days in advance, and it goes up regularly like clockwork on the first Wednesday of every month.
“This month, the R1.50 subsidy that was announced on April 1, 2022, against the general fuel levy was supposed to kick back in, and with the added cost of the oil price increasing, the rand/dollar exchange rate, it would mean South African consumers would have paid somewhere in the region of R4 more per litre.
“Now we have no clarity whatsoever from the government as to what the fuel price will be at midnight,” he said.
Mileham said it is of concern that Minister Mantashe and Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana have known about this for at least two months.
He said the DA have been calling for a review of the basic fuel pricing for years along with other organisations such as the Automobile Association and Outa, among others.
“For the last two months, Mantashe and Godongwana have known that the R1.50 was going to be added back in. Now suddenly, at the last minute, they are running around like headless chickens, not knowing what to do, and as a result, South Africans are left in the lurch. We don't know what’s going to happen,” said Mileham.
Mileham further explained that South Africans are now panic buying.
“If you go to just about any petrol station, you will see cars queuing up to buy petrol,” he said.
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