A proposed fuel levy in the Western Cape of 10 cents a litre will not have the Inkatha Freedom Party’s (IFP) support, unless there is clarity on where the money will go, party spokesperson Eric Lucas said on Wednesday.
”For the IFP there are a lot of questions surrounding this proposed fuel increase on top of ever-increasing national fuel prices,” he said.
During the past four or five years, people living in the province have been told that the reason they pay the country’s highest vehicle licence fees is because the money is used for maintenance and the construction of new roads.
”But if you look at the state of roads in the Western Cape, can you honestly believe that the money was actually spent for this purpose? We doubt it,” Lucas said.
According to Western Cape finance minister Lynne Brown, the proposed fuel levy will be used to finance roads and tourism projects.
”The IFP calls on [Brown] to make more information available on exactly what projects she will be funding with the extra R320-million a year her government will be pocketing from this exuberant increase,” Lucas said. — Sapa