MEDIA RELEASE
2025-05-08
SUMMARY: The Labour Party of South Africa (Labour Party) warns that South Africans are being hit hard by sharp fuel price increases, with only a temporary fuel levy reduction offering limited relief. The Party argues that the crisis is driven not only by global pressures but also by long-term policy failures.
The first quarter of the year has been strenuous for South Africans, worsened by global geopolitical tensions and economic turbulence. The recent sharp fuel price increases have already had, and will continue to have, far-reaching and damaging effects on ordinary people.
As of Wednesday, 6 May 2027, the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) implemented a petrol and diesel price increase ranging between R3.27 and R6.19. “On the one hand, they enforce fuel price increases, and on the other hand they extend the R3 reduction in the general fuel levy for petrol and about R3.93 for diesel. Who are they fooling?” asked Joseph Mathunjwa, Interim President of the Labour Party.
The decision to extend the fuel levy reduction is nothing more than a political ‘quick fix’. While the fuel levy decrease is meant to soften the blow of rising fuel costs, experts have consistently warned that the rapid pace of these increases will inevitably ripple through every sector of the economy – and ordinary South Africans will carry the burden.
“It is not enough for the government to tell South Africans that these fuel increases are unavoidable!” exclaimed Mathunjwa. “If today they are unavoidable, then we must question government policy, implementation, enforcement, and the overall quality of leadership”, he added.
The Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, has repeatedly described the fuel increases as ‘unavoidable’, blaming global market conditions. He recently highlighted the structure of South Africa’s fuel pricing system, pointing to the country’s dependence on import parity pricing linked to international benchmarks. In other words, he argues that rising global oil prices automatically result in higher domestic fuel prices.
“The white elephant in the room is not international benchmarks or geopolitical tensions”, said Mathunjwa. “The real white elephant is the neoliberal, pro-capital trajectory adopted by the government – a trajectory that has consistently placed South Africans at the worst end of the deal”, he further stated.
“The hard truth is that the state has allowed the decline of state-led infrastructure systems through the closure and privatisation of mines, the shutdown of refineries, and the selling off fuel reserves. That is why South Africans are suffering so severely today”, Mathunjwa added.
The decline of state-led infrastructure has had devastating consequences for the quality of life of ordinary South Africans. Public transport networks, including rail and bus systems, have deteriorated drastically over time, with little innovation or meaningful intervention from the state.
This decline, combined with relentless fuel price hikes, continues to drive the cost of living beyond the reach of many households. This is happening against the backdrop of nearly 40% of South Africa’s population living below the lower-bound poverty line, according to Statistics South Africa.
South Africans braced for impact when the fuel price increases were announced, and now they are bracing for the inevitable increases in transport costs, food prices, and basic household goods.
“This is a clear example of why investing in the social wage is so important”, said Mathunjwa. “The Labour Party stands for industrialisation and beneficiation. These interventions will strengthen the social wage and enable the strategic subsidisation of working people, ultimately lowering the cost of living”, he further added.
The Labour Party maintains that government has the capacity to implement stronger interventions to cushion the economy and protect South Africans from the impact of fuel price increases. These interventions include further reductions in the fuel levy and partial subsidisation of fuel costs for public transport.
“These interventions would put South Africans first and demonstrate caring leadership. They would also give government the much-needed opportunity to develop a sustainable long-term plan instead of repeatedly telling citizens that fuel increases are ‘unavoidable’”, Mathunjwa remarked.
“It is high time South Africans understand that the government, as it stands today, does not have their interests at heart. How can you sell fuel reserves without a clear plan to rebuild them? How can you export coal to power other continents while South Africans suffer under a load-shedding crisis? How can you close and privatise strategic assets like refineries, then import finished fuel products and open the door for foreign interests to dominate critical sectors?” asked Mathunjwa.
“These are the questions that expose the selfishness and short-sightedness of this government”, he concluded.
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