Call for fuel price drop

LEVIES: PRICES SHOULD BE 30% LOWER AT R14 A LITRE, SAYS MANTASHE

- Ciaran Ryan

» Despite five decreases, motorists 'should be paying less than R20 a litre'.

Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe told the Africa Oil Week conference in Cape Town this week that fuel prices should be R14 a litre instead of R20 and discussions are taking place with National Treasury on how this can be done.

Distortions introduced by two fuel taxes – the general fuel levy (GFL) and the Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy – have pushed prices up to around R20 a litre.

Money from the GFL goes to the National Revenue Fund for spending by national government, with a portion allocated to the eight major metros.

More than 90% of the funds in the Road Accident Fund (RAF) come from the RAF levy, which is used to settle claims from victims of car accidents.

These two levies bump up the price of petrol by R6.14 a litre, and diesel by R6.02 a litre – accounting for around 30% of the retail fuel price.