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Fuel pumps at a fuel station.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) says it is worried that the latest fuel price increases will chase commuters away from using their services.
Santaco has increased transport fares for local and long-distance travel from the beginning of this month.
This was informed by the April fuel price hike.
Despite temporary government levy relief, the country is facing yet another significant fuel price hike from midnight.
Petrol will rise by R3,27 per litre and diesel by R6,19 cents per litre.
Many sectors will be impacted including the taxi industry.
Santaco’s National Spokesperson, Rebecca Phala, says: “We already did communicate throughout April that we will be increasing our prices. As we speak in the beginning of May, we’ve already started with the increases. So, the local trips are being increased between R2 and R6. It is the ultimate prerogative of individual taxi associations. And then at a long distance level, I should rather say, we are increasing by between R10 and R30. So, this other increase is coming as a shock then because it means that it’s going to frustrate us even further. We could lose commuters and not just to buses. We could lose commuters also to lift clubs as well as other modes of transport, which obviously is concerning.”
