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This is despite the country's Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana
on Tuesday announcing a 3 rand ($0.18) decrease per liter of
fuel in an attempt to cushion against the price shock.
The 7.51 rand ($0.44) price increase for diesel, the highest on
record, and the 3.06 rand ($0.18) for gasoline has already sent
shock waves across the southern African nation.
By Tuesday evening, some gas stations in the east of
Johannesburg were turning motorists away as they had run of both
diesel and gasoline.
At some stations, only gasoline was available and those seeking
diesel were turned away. Some lines were visibly building up at
some of the stations that still had fuel.
Godongwana said on Tuesday that the ongoing conflict in the
Middle East had increased risks to global energy markets and
placed pressure on domestic fuel prices.
The decreased fuel levy for the month of April, before South
Africa announced adjusted fuel prices again in March, would cost
the government 6 billion rand (more than $351 million) in lost
tax revenue.
The country has also been affected by operations and logistical
delays in its fuel distribution as dozens of fuel stations ran
dry and some fuel stations started rationing fuel purchases to
customers, with some putting up restrictions of between 30 to 50
liters (8 to 13 gallons per car).
“Even after fuel levies were reduced, these are the largest
increases in recent history and would be devastating for
consumers,” said Theuns Du Buisson, an economic researcher at
the Solidarity Research Institute.
He said that the fuel increases, especially the record increase
for diesel, would have a devastating result on the cost of
logistics and transportation, with knock-on effects on inflation
in coming months.
With a majority of South Africans using public transport, mainly
minibus taxis and buses, the impact is likely to be felt mostly
by low-income households, Du Buisson said.
On Tuesday, the bus service in the capital, Pretoria, was
disrupted, because of fuel shortages at the city's bus depots,
the municipality said.
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Michelle Gumedecontributed to this report.
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