Cape Town - The DA held 11 pickets simultaneously across Cape Town over the exorbitant fuel prices this morning. Petrol prices are at a record high of R23.52 per litre and over R22 per litre of diesel. The prices have prompted calls to shutdown major roads across the country as citizens cannot afford the new fuel prices.
Joining DA activists in Parow, DA provincial leader Tertuis Simmers said: “We will not let this go. We simply cannot pay this absurd amount of almost R25 per litre for fuel. The ANC government is driving South Africans deeper and deeper into poverty.”
“We are standing here this morning and raising our voices in support of poor communities. The ANC has forgotten about the poor. From stashing millions of dollars under mattresses in their mansions, to taxing our people into poverty, the ANC simply does not care about the people of our country anymore."
Simmers said that as a caring party, the DA would continue to pressure the ANC, forcing them to slash their heartless policies that are crippling people.
Next week Parliament will debate the DA’s demand for the government to slash fuel prices, by cutting the 33% tax on fuel.
The DA has proposed:
Deregulate the fuel price, and let fuel providers compete on price to drive down the price;
End the general fuel levy of more than R4 per litre, which is nothing more than a donation to the corruption slush fund at National Treasury;
Exempt all fuel users who already pay for insurance, from the R2.18 per litre Road Accident Fund levy.
“We will use this debate in Parliament on Wednesday next week to formally table our workable and practical solutions which will cut more than R6 on levies from every litre of fuel,” said Simmers.
In the coming days, the minibus taxi industry is also expected to announce increased taxi fees, impacting already struggling commuters.
The government was under huge pressure to extend the levy reduction, without it, the petrol price would have increased by close to R4 per litre.