SANTACO and NTA calls on COSATU to join the national shutdown over the hiking fuel prices

Two of the country’s biggest taxi associations, the National Taxi Alliance (NTA) and SANTACO are lobbying trade union COSATU and other civic groups to join a national shutdown over the spiralling fuel price.

They say that the increases have made the cost of living unaffordable and the high prices are crippling their businesses and putting financial strain on commuters. Both taxi bodies have confirmed that fares will go up in the next few weeks.

Theo Malele of the National Taxi Alliance says government relief on the fuel levy isn’t enough to cushion the overall blow of record fuel prices. In a statement, COSATU expresses dismay at the government interventions and has called for urgent talks at Nedlac.

SANTACO’s, Bafana Magagula, says taxi operators are feeling the impact of the increase in fuel prices.

He further added that the increases put pressure on their business. There’s a lot of repossession, and nobody wants to listen to that. These repossessions are caused by this increase, especially coming from the lockdown.

Video| Fuel price hike: Public transport users face tough times ahead