BUSINESSOWNERS in Randburg, north of Joburg, have pleaded with taxi owners not to increase taxi fare as this will cripple their already strained businesses.
Consumers will feel the pinch even further this April as the prices of all grades of fuel increase.
According to the Central Energy Fund, 93 and 95 Petrol will increase by 65 and 67 cents per litre, respectively.
This means a litre of 95 petrol, which used to cost R24,45 a litre in Gauteng, will now cost R25,12.
This hike happens as consumers witness a hike in electricity prices as of 2 April.
To date, electricity tariffs have been hiked by a whole 12,75%.
This ultimately means households will have to pay more amidst load shedding and power outages.
Reacting to this hike four months into 2024, Randburg residents claim they are in “hell” and struggling to survive.
“When petrol goes up, everything else gets impacted. Even in the shops, food items cost more. As a businessowner, affording stock becomes a lot because prices have now gone up… We can't live like this. Things are too high. We're barely surviving,” Godfrey Mfisa said.
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Godfrey owns a stall in town and uses R46 a day for a taxi from Diepsloot to Randburg to set up shop.
He told Daily Sun if taxi fees increase, he will struggle immensely.
The same sentiments were shared by another resident, Bongani Ndlovu (65), who said she uses a taxi daily to and from Soweto and pays close to R80.
Shaka Malogwa (30) uses his car to travel to work daily.
He said with the fuel increase, he is now forced to stretch his budget, affecting other needs.
“Once you start driving, it’s a different story because you're choosing convenience, with this fuel hike, my budget will no longer be enough. If I budget R300 a week to go to work, that R300 won't be enough.
"This means I need to take out more money, and this means I need to fiddle with money meant for something else,” he said.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has since spoken out about petrol hikes having a ripple effect on their operational costs, which may force the association to increase prices but 'not significantly.
"Some associations are battling operational costs. Spending more on fuel we may consider hikes. If it's introduced, it won't be more than 5% of what commuters are already paying. We don’t anticipate many hikes though," Santaco spokeswoman, Rebecca Phala said.
While this is not the first time the country has seen an increase in fuel prices, Rebecca emphasised that fuel increases don't influence taxi prices but are guided by the taxi fare index.
"In addition to the per annum increase, should an association's operational costs be found to be overly hefty, an association will liaise with commuters and introduce possible further increases," she said.
