Deputy President Paul Mashatile has brushed off the Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) urgent legal challenge against the recent fuel levy increase, calling the party’s move shaky and politically charged.
This comes after the EFF filed an urgent application in the Western Cape High Court, seeking to suspend the newly announced fuel levy hike.
The increase, revealed by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana during his Budget Speech last week, will see petrol levies rise by 16 cents per litre and diesel by 15 cents, effective from Wednesday.
Speaking to journalists at a high-level roundtable at the Presidential Guesthouse in Pretoria on Friday, Mashatile was unshaken by the legal challenge.
“I am worried,” he said, implying the government had followed due process in announcing the levy adjustments.
“I’m not so worried about the EFF’s case because the Minister of Finance had a very involved process of dealing with the budget, a lot of consultations. The proposals that EFF is talking about were also examined.
“They talk about what they call the wealth tax, they talk about corporate taxes, all those things were examined by the minister and he had to decide which instrument can be used at the moment and he has decided the way he has decided,” he said.
The EFF contended that the minister overstepped his authority by introducing tax increases without prior approval from Parliament.
They argued this contravenes constitutional provisions governing taxation and public finance.
However, Mashatile was confident the challenge would not hold up in court, suggesting the case was more about political theatre than legal substance.
The levy increase, while controversial, is part of broader fiscal adjustments aimed at stabilising public finances amid economic headwinds.
The courts are expected to hear the EFF’s application in the coming days.
Politics
