There will be a cut in fuel prices to help relieve consumers of the pressure from sharply rising energy costs, South Africa’s finance minister on Thursday announced, but his opposition counterpart labelled the gesture all-but meaningless.
1.50 cents will be taken off a litre of its general fuel levy until the end of May, Enoch Godongwana told lawmakers.
Motorists in the country currently pay 21.60 rand for a litre of petrol and 19.55 rand for diesel, following a rise of around 145 cents for each in early March.
Known as Africa’s most advanced economy, South Africa is a net importer of crude and refined petroleum products where government-regulated fuel prices are changed monthly.
The temporary reduction of the fuel levy would “support a phasing-in of the fuel price increases that we are expecting in the short term”, Godongwana said.
But Dion George, finance spokesman for the Democratic Alliance opposition party, called the cut “tepid”.
“This is actually not going to make any difference at all,” he said.
The Ministry of Energy said it was proposing a price cap on petrol and a reduction of the basic fuel price by 3 cents a litre, once Gondongwana’s emergency measure ended.
The South African Petroleum Industry Association (SAPIA), which represents oil majors including BP and Shell had in March 25 during a briefing to a parliamentary committee urged the government to accelerate a planned review of fuel pricing system.
