Fuel Price Hike Delayed Until After Election Results, AA Thinks It's a Ploy to Protect the ANC

• The AA has expressed suspicions that the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy purposefully delayed the fuel increase announcement to protect the ANC from losing votes in Monday's election
• The department drew up a press release on Friday, which was only used shortly before polls closed on Monday night
• South Africans have been warned that fuel prices will rise exponentially in the next three to six months

JOHANNESBURG - Fuel prices were set to experience a dramatic 7% increase at midnight on Tuesday. However, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) did not adhere to the protocol of releasing fuel price increases on the last Friday of the month.

The DMRE is being accused by the Automobile Association (AA) of planning to only announce the price hike after the local government elections as part of a ploy to protect the ruling ANC.

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This accusation follows the DMRE releasing the price increase when the polls closed at 9pm on Monday, using a statement dated 28 October, 2021. The AA has expressed its suspicions about the irregular nature of this announcement, News24 reports.

The AA voices its concerns about the DMRE's announcement

According to IOL, the reason for the AA's suspicions is that the DMRE waited until voting stations had closed on election day to release a four-day-old statement. The AA feels that there is no explanation for this besides avoiding negative sentiments from voters towards the ANC during an election.

The AA has vowed to find answers from Parliament for the DMRE's actions and how state-sanctioned fuel levies will be spent. The official reason given for the 2.2c increase in the fuel levy is to recover financial losses incurred during previous fuel price calculations.

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"With oil demand buoyant and supply lagging, the ongoing issues with natural gas cost and supply, and refining costs a worry, we see little cause for optimism. Added to this is the volatile Rand/US dollar exchange rate and users of liquid fuels in South Africa are probably in for a rough ride in the next three to six months," the AA said.

South Africans furious over price hike

Previously Briefly News reported on a fuel price hike of R1.21 per litre set for midnight on Tuesday, 2 November, 2021.

This dramatic price hike is due to the rand weakening against the dollar. The energy department issued a statement on Monday night explaining how this happened.

He said that it was contingent on the rand/dollar exchange rate. Between 1 and 27 October, the exchange rate was R14.81 to the dollar, whereas it was R14.57 previously, reports EWN. This affected the prices of petrol, diesel and paraffin.

Source: Briefly News