The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Wednesday condemned the proposed Western Cape fuel tax of between 10c and 50c a litre in addition to the current national levy.
”The effect of such a levy would be to move the greatest burden of this special tax onto the poor people who spend a far greater proportion of their income on transport,” Cosatu said in a statement.
”The effect of this tax will be to increase the cost of taxi and bus transport as well as having an inflationary impact on food.”
Cosatu will oppose this ”harsh tax” on workers and said it will be happy to explore a progressive taxation policy if additional income for service delivery was required.
It reminded the provincial government that its national counterpart had allocated billions of rands to upgrade transport.
Cosatu urged the provincial government not to place a burden on the poor and to consider alternative tax structures that moved the tax burden to the wealthy.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) also expressed concern at the proposed levy.
”The IFP hopes that the provincial minister [Marius Fransman] has thought this levy through carefully, as with the recent drastic rise in the fuel price, this levy would mean an extra burden on motorists if the implementation is not done properly,” party spokesperson for minerals and energy Eric Lucas said.
Lucas said a there is a need for public hearings to be held before the levy is implemented.
The Cape Times on Wednesday reported that Western Cape road users will soon have to pay a provincial fuel tax of between 10C and 50c a litre in addition to the current national levy
Its website said Fransman announced this on Tuesday. He said Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel had approved a Western Cape government proposal to introduce the fuel levy.
Fransman said vehicle licence fees in the province, the highest in the country, will not be increased this year.
The money raised through the levy will be used to pay for the rehabilitation and upgrading of transport infrastructure and to develop a high-quality public transport system.
Fransman said the provincial government had identified public transport as ”the most critical factor” in unlocking economic growth in the Western Cape.
He said no amount had been decided on yet, adding that the proposal will now have to go through a process of public consultation.
Reports earlier this year, when the fuel levy was proposed, stated that it would be between 10c and 50c a litre. The existing national fuel levy is R1,16 a litre. — Sapa