Fuel price a crisis created by the ANC government

12 September 2018

The fast rising fuel price is a serious crisis for the country, and even more so for the ANC government as it is the rulings party's own doing and now there is no way to escape it.

The exchange rate is another serious problem and is indicative of how markets perceive a country's economy.

When former President Jacob Zuma was elected in 2009, the Rand’s exchange rate was R7,21 to the dollar. Tonight it is R14,97. The Rand has, therefore, weakened with more than half. R1,37 is what one needs to buy a single Botswana Pula.

In the light if this crisis, the ANC Minister of Communication, Nomvula Mokonyane, is making totally nonsensical and silly statements about the situation as she said that if the Rand falls, it must simply be picked up again.

The irony and the ANC's biggest problem is that nearly 40% of the current fuel price is made up of levies. An estimated R118 billion is expected from levies this year. The government can simply not function without it.

And the reason for this is simple: in the Mandela era, millions of rands were stolen. In the Mbeki era, millions of rands were stolen. In the Zuma era, millions of rands were stolen. That is the real reason why the country is in this pervasive economic crisis.

In 2015, the then Minister of Energy, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, sold more than 10 million vats of South Africa's strategic oil reserves at the astonishing price of only R28 dollar per vat. What became of that money? Was this transaction thoroughly investigated? Does the government know exactly what transpired or was it also swept under the rug just like so many other cases?

The government is powerless. It cannot do away with the excessive fuel levies. The government simply cannot get by without that R118 billion, which comes out of the pockets of the people of South Africa. The ANC is responsible for this crisis. And the voters will remember that when they make their mark at the polls next year.

Issued by Corné Mulder, FF Plus chief whip, 12 September 2018