WITH another fuel price hike looming, the DA in Hammanskraal, Tshwane, went out to the streets on Monday, 4 July to get the public to sign a petition against the price increase as it affects everyone.
Speaking to Daily Sun, PR councillor Frank Kgaboesele said: “We are here today to run a campaign asking the government to look into the increasing price of petrol, which is killing the people of Mzansi. This affects all South Africans including those who don’t have motor vehicles as they also need to buy food and other necessities.”
He said many people were suffering due to lack of jobs and the situation was strenuous to them.
“The government must reduce the price of petrol. We just came out of Covid-19 pandemic and still we have not yet recovered as a country. Everyone can see that we are fighting this challenge and I must say we’re glad a lot of people are agreeing with us and have signed this petition,” he said.
He said this was the reason the DA was fighting in Parliament.
On Monday, Kevin Mileham, who is the party’s shadow minister of mineral resources and energy, presented Fuel Price Deregulation Bill to Parliament, saying the groundbreaking bill will seek to amend the Petroleum Products Act, which gives government the power to prescribe the price of petroleum products.
“We intend to publish our ‘Notice of Intention to Introduce’ in the Government Gazette later this week, within which the public will be invited to provide comments on the stated aims of our bill. Now the ball is firmly in the ANC government’s court, and it has the chance to do the right thing. The success or failure of regulating the fuel price now rests with the ANC in Parliament,” he said.
“Given that South Africans will wake up to another hefty fuel price increase that will take the fuel price well beyond R25 a litre on Wednesday, 6 July, the primary objective of the bill is to deregulate the fuel sector to increase competition in fuel price setting at both the wholesale and retail level, which will result in lower petrol prices for consumers, as retailers compete to win customers based on price levels.”
He said the bill does this primarily through the removal of Section 2 of the Petroleum Products Act and also amends section 2(1)(d) to allow for businesses to implement creative methods of trading which may result in reduced petroleum prices.
“We are taking the possibility of collusion and the abuse of dominant market positions seriously. The Competition Commission will be tasked with keeping a close eye on the fuel price market. Should any anti-competitive practices be determined, swift investigation and remedial action will follow,” said Mileham.
“Most consumers spend a significant part of their salaries on ever-increasing transport, and the frequent fuel price increases are leaving many with little to spend on the equally expensive basic food basket. South Africa’s high fuel prices are a consequence of government mandated fuel price controls that have killed competition and failed to deliver efficient cost-reflective prices,” he said.
Taxi operator Isaac Bokaba said the continuous increase of fuel is causing problems in their lives.
“It’s becoming difficult to sustain this business because when we increase the taxi fare, our passengers complain and this is not only killing them but our businesses are also affected,” said Bokaba.
He said the government needed to find ways on how to reduce this price increase as they couldn’t afford to experience this almost every month.
On Wednesday, 6 July in Gauteng, a litre of 95 petrol is expected to cost R26,74.
