SA ON THE HARDE PAD

South Africans are oppie harde pad thanks to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s new General Fuel Levy (GFL), according to the Automobile Association (AA) and Road Freight Association (RFA).

Taxpayers may have escaped the dreaded one percent Value Added Tax hike proposed in the original Budget, but fuel taxes are now set to rise from the beginning of June.

In his revised 2025 Budget proposal on Wednesday, Godongwana announced an increase of 16 cents per litre for petrol and 15 cents for diesel.

Although fuel prices are set to drop next month, it is likely to be cancelled out the petrol levy increase. 

Worse still, the AA warns that the effects of the tax hike will be felt further down the road when international oil prices inevitably rise again. 

Following the fuel tax hike, which takes effect in June, the GFL will now total R4.01 per litre for petrol and R3.85 for diesel. 

The total tax on petrol, once the Road Accident Fund levy and carbon taxes are factored in, will amount to R6.37 per litre.

This is likely to push the tax on petrol beyond 30%, depending on June’s final price calculations, which have yet to be announced.

Eleanor Mavimbela, spokesperson for the AA, says: “Fuel is a critical input cost across all sectors of the economy; any increase inevitably drives up transport and operational costs, further intensifying inflation.

“Lower-income households, which spend a greater share of their income on transport, will be disproportionately affected by this rise.”

Gavin Kelly, CEO of the RFA, adds: “Treasury would rather tax citizens than cut the wasteful expenditure that has brought the country to where it is.

“Government does not have money - it belongs to the taxpayers, and the time for accountability and responsibility has come.”