South Africans Think the Fuel Price Dopping Is Merely a Distraction from Parliament Fire

• The Central Energy Fund has finally announced that fuel prices will be dropping on Wednesday, 5 January
• This comes after Minister of Finance Enoch Gondongwana suggested to Members of Parliament that a new method for fuel price calculation be found
• South Africans are not too happy about the fuel price dropping because they believe it is only a distraction tactic

JOHANNESBURG - South Africans can finally breathe a little easier now that fuel prices will drop on Wednesday, 5 January after weeks of speculation.

The announcement was made on Monday by the Central Energy Fund, stating that petrol prices will go down by 68c and 71c for 95 octane petrol and 93 octane petrol respectively.

The price of diesel will fall by 67.8c per litre while the price of illuminating paraffin will be lowered by 71c per litre, according to EWN.

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The fuel prices dropping have been attributed to the Rand strengthening and finally putting petrol prices beneath the R20/litre mark.

Part of the reason the petrol price change can be attributed to Finance Minister Enoch Gondogwana, who proposed to Parliament in December 2021 that the way fuel prices are calculated should be reformed, according to SABC News.

South Africans are not too excited about the fuel price dropping

Taking to social media, South Africans have expressed that the fuel price drop is not enough because prices will be increasing again. Some people say the price dropping could be a way for the government to distract citizens.

Here are some interesting takes from South Africans:

@SthembisoNjab15 said:

"Distracting us from the burning Parliament."

@tumelo1865 said:

"I suspect manipulation of food prices... now we're paying more in food. Jiki jiki petrol goes down then a few weeks it will go up and food price will rise again."

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@siyanda7771 said:

"…Temporarily - to rise again after we lose focus from the burnt Parliament…"

@Lankie5571 said:

"Usually, it happens in the 1st week of the month, but the government knows it's holidays & the people returning will need to fill up. See how thievish they get!"

@calvinramotlou said:

"So that was the relief we have been waiting for, that’s nothing, we are just being fooled cause next month it’s going up by R1.We need R8 cut-off."

Omicron’s effect on SA’s economy: Grants, fuel, interest rates, and tourism sector to take a knock

In other business news, Briefly News previously reported that the Bureau for Economic Research (BER)'s economists predict that the discovery of the Omicron variant will have a negative effect on the South African economy.

This will deepen the effects of an economic situation already negatively affected. October's three-week steel strike and the fourth quarter's loadshedding have knocked the country's economy, which is now being affected further by the new variant.

According to News24, travel bans and restrictions placed on South Africa by countries across the world will damage the tourism sector, which is currently trying to recover from previous lockdowns.

Source: Briefly News