President Cyril Ramaphosa Says Suspension of Fuel Levies Has Impacted Public Finances & Government Programmes
- President Cyril Ramaphosa stated in his weekly newsletter that the increase in food and fuel prices is beyond the government's control
- The president says these steep increases have been due to bad weather and Russia's war on Ukraine
- South Africans are not impressed with Ramaphosa's newsletter and are demanding action from the president to make people's lives better
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JOHANNESBURG - In his recent newsletter, President Cyril Ramaphosa has addressed the rising fuel prices and how fuel levies affect the ordinary South African.
The president has also noted that the cost of living in South Africa has also exponentially increased. Ramaphosa stated that people's quality of life has also been impacted by the dramatic increase in prices across the board.
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"It has become increasingly more expensive to buy food and other essentials, to pay for basic services and to use public or private transportation. While these rising costs affect everyone, low-income households are feeling them the most," wrote Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa noted the price increases for staple foods are beyond the government's control as they are impacted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine which has directly impacted the price of fuel.
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Ramaphosa added that lower agricultural output is another factor for increasing food prices and says the low output has been caused by extreme weather conditions, reports News24. The president says the government has tried to help SA households by suspending the fuel levy, however, the levy cannot be suspended indefinitely.
Since the suspension of the fuel, Ramaphosa says public finances have been impacted the most and that has resulted in the stalling of government programmes.
The government plans to invest in the agriculture sector to ensure that South Africa gains food sovereignty and jobs are created. The president ended his newsletter by saying that the government will work to ensure that South Africans are assisted during this hard time.
"Though oil prices and extreme weather are events over which we have little control, there is still much we can do as government, business, labour and communities to help the people of South Africa through this difficult time," said Ramaphosa.
South Africans want fuel levies dropped
South Africans say they are tired of the president repeating the problems they know about. Most people say that the Ramaphosa should be giving South Africans solutions.
Here are some comments:
@thandomasanabo said:
"You are always telling us the problems we already know and experience ON A DAILY. How about you start telling us solutions? Hmm Due to the increase in fuel we have removed Fuel levies. We have deployed more police presence in high crime areas. 0 tax on cooking oil. Something dude aii"
@MaanoMadima said:
"What is that “much we can do, as government, business, labour and communities”? Communities can even carpool because they get assaulted by members of certain transport groups. Some solutions like the price of fuel shouldn’t be passed on to citizens. Businesses should ⬆️ salaries"
EFF warns of national shutdown over high fuel prices, Government is sleepwalking into disaster
Briefly News previously reported that the EFF is pursuing a possible national shutdown on 10 June if the government does not act to alleviate the pressure on consumers as the fuel price is set to rise again.
From Wednesday, motorists will have to pay R2.43 more per litre of 93 octane fuel and R2.33 for 95 octane. Diesel will rise by R1.11 and illuminating paraffin will increase by R1.56.
Motorists filling up with 95 unleaded will have to cough up R24.17 per litre which means it costs just under R100 for four litres of petrol.
Source: Briefly News
