Cape Town - There have been mixed reactions to possible fuel price deregulation, as government called for public comment on plans to put a fuel price cap on 93-octane petrol.
Mineral resources and energy minister, Gwede Mantashe published a notice in the government gazette on Friday under section 2(1)(c) of the Petroleum Products Act, giving notice of the intention to introduce a price cap or a maximum price for petrol 93-octane. Comments from stakeholders should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of the notice.
The notice proposes that instead of government setting a fixed price for the sale of 93-octane petrol, it would allow retailers to set their own price by introducing a cap or maximum price retailers could charge.
The price of 93-octane petrol currently stands at R 26.31 per litre.
Civic organisation, Fight Against Equality’s Wafaa Abdurahman said with deregulation, price gauging could become a problem, making things worse for consumers.
“If petrol goes up everything goes up including food, transport etc. The repo rate has just been pushed up 75bps. All things tie in. At least some of us have a job and a roof over our head, what about people who have nothing?
“Around deregulation we've seen what happens, monopolies are able to play around with people's lives even more, ending up in cases at the Competition Commission. Having deregulation is only going to put us even worse into trouble. At this point, industry is only interested in profit, so it’s going to be profits before people. Who suffers? The ordinary person on the street.”
She said instead the organisation was calling for a wealth tax to even the playing field.
“We have been calling on taxing the rich for a long time. There are so many billionaires in the country that mean nothing for us. The money they make goes into their tax haven offshore, with no reinvestment into the country,” the activist said.
Reggie Sibiya, CEO of the Fuel Retailers Association warned: "To say that the fuel retail sector is under attack would be an understatement. Not only do we have to contend with rising global oil prices and its economic consequences, but locally the rising pressure from our government on fuel prices and call for deregulation will have long-term implications for our fuel and convenience store retailers.”
DA MP, Kevin Mileham said they welcomed the move and called for more deregulation.
“Government has maintained unnecessary control over the fuel price for too long, thereby hindering competition in the fuel sector which would result in lower prices at the pump for consumers, and more innovative selling methods by fuel retailers,” he said.
“The DA believes that a full deregulation model which goes beyond a price ceiling is most desirable for consumers and producers alike. Full deregulation is common practice in developed economies.”
The public can send comments to [email protected] with the name, address, telephone number and email address of the person or organisation submitting the comments. Comments can also be posted to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy in Pretoria for the attention of Raphi Maake, or hand delivered to their offices at Matimba House.
Cape Times