Petition requesting fuel prices be slashed handed to Ministers

14 June 2022

Today, the DA submitted our letter requesting that fuel prices be slashed to the Ministers of Finance and Mineral Resources and Energy in the form of a petition. More than 130 000 South Africans have co-signed our letter to Ministers Enoch Godongwana and Gwede Mantashe.

Given the dire state of the economy, the millions of people unemployed and living in poverty, and the multitudes of children starving to death, it’s no surprise that this letter is one of the fastest growing petitions in the history of the DA – only eclipsed by our petition against the misgovernance of Jacob Zuma.

The DA proposes that:

The General Fuel Levy of R3.93 per litre be completely scrapped.

Road users who can provide proof of comprehensive third party insurance receive a tax rebate for the R2.18 per litre Road Accident Fund Levy when they submit their annual tax returns.

The fuel sector be deregulated through the amendment of the Petroleum Products Act, to encourage competition in the wholesale and retail fuel sectors.

While South Africans are struggling to make ends meet with skyrocketing fuel, food, and transport prices, the ANC government has yet to table any viable solutions. The South African public simply cannot afford further fuel hikes, the resultant price increases on other necessities will force them further into debt. Many families will have to decide whether to pay for transport to work of buy food. It doesn’t have to be this ways, and government intervention in this regard can stop people from having to make this trade-off. Government must give the DA’s plan of cutting fuel taxes serious consideration, especially in light of predictions of further increases in July.

All South Africans need a viable economy to thrive, and the rising fuel cost is stifling the last life out ours. The DA cannot allow this, and will continue to fight the ANC government to employ rational decision making to benefit the country.

Issued by Kevin Mileham, DA Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, 14 June 2022