There will be no tampering with the fuel levies to try to ease the pain of oil price increases, the Cabinet has decided.
The ministers’ decision, announced on Thursday, was that Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica should get together to look at alternative ways of mitigating the impact.
“The ministers will present a package of proposals to Cabinet in the near future,” said Cabinet spokesperson Themba Maseko.
The suggestion of a fuel levy reduction was made in a budget speech by Sonjica last week.
Maseko explained that the fuel levy is a specific tax that is adjusted once a year and remains constant irrespective of changes in the fuel price. Currently the levy on a litre of diesel is 111 cents and on petrol 127 cents. The road accident fund levy is 46,5 cents and the Southern African Customs Union levy is four cents. — I-Net Bridge