The latest fuel price increase is adding to pressure on workers struggling with the rising cost of living, with unions warning that higher transport costs will feed into the price of food and other necessities while wages fail to keep pace with household expenses. The increase, which took effect on Wednesday, has renewed calls for the government to reconsider the taxes and levies included in fuel prices and for employers to take the rising cost of living into account during wage negotiations.
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu said the increase would affect workers across different sectors, particularly those who rely on private vehicles to travel to work.
He said many workers were struggling to meet their monthly expenses and could not easily absorb another increase in commuting costs.
“Obviously, the high fuel prices will definitely affect them,” Mammburu said. “Some of our members are using their own cars and they don’t really earn a lot of money.
“Who can afford these high fuel prices?”
Mammburu said workers were also facing growing job insecurity in parts of the mining industry, where some companies were replacing permanent employees with contractors.
He said this often resulted in workers receiving lower salaries and fewer benefits, leaving them even less able to cope with rising household costs. He also questioned whether wages were keeping up with the broader increase in the cost of living. Mammburu said employers regularly raised affordability concerns during wage negotiations, even as some companies benefited from strong commodity prices.
He pointed to the gold sector, saying workers were not necessarily benefiting from higher international gold prices while executives continued to receive substantial bonuses. He argued that workers who generate the revenue for mining companies should also benefit when commodity prices perform well.
The pressure is not limited to mineworkers. Saftu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has described the latest increase as part of a broader cost-of-living crisis affecting working households.
Vavi pointed to rising municipal costs in Johannesburg, including electricity, water, sanitation, refuse collection, and property rates, arguing that these increases were occurring without corresponding increases in workers’ wages.
Higher fuel prices are also likely to affect people who do not own private vehicles. Public transport operators face higher operating costs when fuel prices rise, which can put pressure on taxi and other transport fares. Businesses that depend on road transport can also face higher costs, which may eventually be passed on to consumers through higher prices.
Mammburu warned that the impact would extend beyond transport. Higher fuel costs could contribute to increases in food prices and other necessities, while households approaching the end of the year could also face higher education costs.
“Once it affects the food prices, it will also affect the school fees for the children next year,” he said. “It also includes food prices and other basic necessities that everyone needs to survive.”
The fuel increase has also brought renewed attention to the Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy, which contributes to the price motorists pay for petrol and diesel.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy said the government was reviewing the RAF’s funding model because the fund’s liabilities have grown to more than R440 billion.
She said the increasing use of electric vehicles was another reason to reconsider the current system because electric vehicle owners do not contribute to the RAF through the existing fuel levy.
Creecy said the government was considering a hybrid funding model but warned that changing the system would not provide immediate relief. The process would require further research, amendments to the RAF Act and consideration by Parliament. The African National Congress Study Group on Minerals and Petroleum Resources has also called on the National Treasury to reconsider fuel taxes and levies, including the General Fuel Levy and RAF Levy. The study group acknowledged that international factors had contributed significantly to the latest increase but said taxes and levies remained within the government’s control. It argued that reconsidering these charges could provide relief to households facing higher commuting and food costs.
For organised labour, the issue ultimately comes down to whether workers’ wages can keep pace with the cost of living. Mammburu said government and employers needed to recognise the financial pressure facing workers and take rising household costs into account when negotiating wages.
“Everything has become so expensive,” he said.
“When we go to wage negotiations, they must also think of that. They must not only think of their pockets. They must also stand for workers who are working hard.”
Vavi has similarly called for the fuel levy to be scrapped and for greater wealth taxation to reduce the burden on working households.