EFF leader, Julius Malema, has denounced the Western Cape High Court’s decision to reject his party’s urgent attempt to halt the implementation of a rise in the fuel levy, describing it as a severe blow to South Africans who are already struggling financially.
The EFF sought to have the raise, which the finance minister had announced in last month’s national budget, blocked by the court on Monday.
Pump prices increased by 16 cents per litre for petrol and 15 cents for diesel on Wednesday, the day the new fuel levies went into force.
“The court ruling is not a setback for the EFF,” Malema said during a visit to the family of late actor Presley Chweneyagae in Pretoria on Tuesday.
“It is a setback for the millions of South Africans who are already battling the high cost of living.”
Often referred to as a “silent tax,” the fuel levy is embedded in the price consumers pay at the pump—impacting transport, food, and goods across the board.
“Once you put an increase on fuel, fuel levy, everything else goes up. The bread that goes to children in schools, the food that goes to patients in hospitals, all of that is going to be affected. We are already saying life is difficult for people as it were now,” Malema said.
While the levy increase took effect, South African motorists simultaneously received minor relief at the pumps due to declining global oil prices.
Petrol prices have decreased by five cents per litre across both grades, while diesel has dropped by 36 cents per litre.
Despite the temporary reprieve, Malema warned that the structural increase in the fuel levy adds to a growing burden on ordinary citizens.
The EFF maintained that the government’s continued reliance on indirect taxes like fuel levies disproportionately affects low- and middle-income households.
He also called for a complete review of the country’s taxation strategy in relation to basic living costs.
“To put any other increase on fuel levy, it will be a burden our people and they cannotafford. We are happy we took up that struggle,” he said.
Politics
