Home South Africa

Public transport in Mbombela to resume on Friday following fuel price protests

7 July 2022, 5:33 PM |

SABC | @SABCNews

Taxi operators, who had been blockading the routes, have vowed to clear the roads of the debris

Public transport, including minibus taxis, is expected to resume on Friday, after two days of protest over fuel price hikes in Mbombela, Mpumalanga.

The WhiteHazy Taxi association has promised to remove the debris used to blockade roads and resume operations following a meeting with other stakeholders.

Day two of the road closure on Thursday. Although some routes were opened for traffic, taxi drivers in Pienaar blocked roads with burning tyres. Commuters were left stranded and businesses closed.

”We have a cellphone and furniture business. We have three shops here. Since yesterday this mall is closed. We tried to come yesterday but nothing was happening, everything is closed. There is no local taxi, we don’t know how we will survive this thing” says one business owner.

The manager of Emoyeni Mall Shadrack Maswanganyi says the local mall remained closed as a precautionary measure.

”Today we just came to open but we think the situation is still bad, we must keep the mall closed so that our mall is safe, what I am happy with is that those people are not coming here to vandalise or anything.”

In Hazyview, Taxi operators, who had been blockading the routes, have vowed to clear the roads of the debris and resume operations.

Chairperson of the Whitehazy Taxi Association, Sayid Milazi says taxi operations will be back on Friday.

”We are cleaning the road from 4 pm the buses will start operating and will start cleaning. We told the taxi operators and buses not to operate today. Today will start cleaning and from 4 am tomorrow morning all taxis will start operating.”

Police continue to monitor the situation.

Calls for government to urgently review fuel prices

Spokesperson of the Automobile Association of South Africa Layton Beard says government needs to urgently review fuel prices in the country.

His comments come as the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy announced a R2.37 per litre increase in the price of petrol, while diesel is set to increase by R2.30 per litre, and the price of illuminating paraffin will increase by R1.66 per litre from Wednesday.

Higher fuel prices have been pushed up by a weaker rand/dollar exchange rate, rising Brent Crude Oil prices on the back of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and rising demand in China, among other factors.
The fuel price increase comes as the government’s 75 cent reduction in the fuel levy – as relief for struggling consumers – expires on 3 August 2022.

“The major increase to the fuel price remains the increase to international petroleum and that is being driven by the conflict in Ukraine which is contributing to supply and demand pressures. As long as this conflict is unresolved, the increases to fuel prices in South Africa and other countries remain likely. We understand that government has little leeway in terms of international petroleum prices and the rand/US dollar exchange rate, which is why we have called and will continue to press for a review of the fuel price, an area where the government has control of the fuel price.”

Motorists have had to grapple with sharply rising fuel prices since the beginning of the year. Fuel prices have increased by 20% since January, and over 40% this year compared to the same period last year.