The price of petrol and diesel is to increase by 11c/ℓ from 2 April. This includes a 6c/ℓ increase in the general fuel levy (a 5% increase in petrol tax and 5,7% on diesel) and another 5c/ℓ increase in the Road Accident Fund levy.
Said finance minister Trevor Manuel, ”While this will help meet the fund’s cash flow needs, there’s still work to do to implement the 2005 Road Accident Fund Amendment Act and develop the envisaged road accident benefit scheme, to end the present unlimited liability arrangement’s burden on taxpayers.” In recent years government has been injecting more and more cash into infrastructure and this year was no different. Manuel identified transport capacity as a constraint on export growth and allocated over R78 billion to help address the problem. About 45% of this will be spent on improving freight rail infrastructure and rolling stock. Projects include expanding the coal line and the iron ore line. “To increase port capacity, Transnet is widening and deepening the entrance to the Durban harbour, building a new container terminal at Coega, expanding the Cape Town container terminal and buying new equipment to handle increased volumes,” said Manuel. Investments also include the construction of a liquid-fuels pipeline between Durban and Gauteng at a cost of R11,5 billion.
