Trade federation Cosatu has called on government to look at the possible introduction of a petrol price cap to assist struggling consumers.<\/p>\n
The federation welcomed the latest petrol price drop which was introduced on Wednesday<\/a> <\/strong>(3 March) but warned that the gains would likely be wiped out by pending tax increase of 25 cents fuel tax increases from 1 April.<\/p>\n “Only a further reduction and a steady drop can give some respite to lower-income earners and poor households, in particular, because they are struggling to survive under these difficult economic conditions,” it said.<\/p>\n “Hopefully, this reduction will continue because workers are spending too much money travelling to work and they are sliding deeper and deeper int debt because of declining wages.”<\/p>\n It said that an extra decrease in the price of fuel will be able to boost the purchasing power of most South Africans and hopefully, lift the economy and help it recover.<\/p>\n The idea of a petrol price cap was first mooted<\/a> <\/strong>by former energy minister Jeff Radebe in October 2018.<\/p>\n