United we stand, divided we just cough up for fuel

In 1957 a bus boycott initiated by residents of Alexandra over a hike in fares extended for months, forcing bus operator Putco to capitulate. The protest was joined in solidarity by commuters from Sophiatown, areas in Pretoria, Edenvale and Germiston, as well as Moroka and Jabavu, even though they were not affected by an increase. It was estimated that 60,000 people participated.

This is according to an undated article published in Africa South by Ruth First, a journalist, who was jailed under the 90-day detention laws in 1963 and assassinated by a parcel bomb in Maputo in 1982.

First wrote: “For five and six hours every day endless streams of walkers filled the pavements. Over the rise that obscures Alexandra Township from the main road came the eruption of workers in the dawn hours when mists and brazier fires mingle indistinguishably together. End to end the road was filled with shadowy, hurrying figures … In the pelting rain, through the sudden fierce storms of the Johannesburg summer, running the gauntlet of police patrols, the boycotters walked on.”

Putco had raised fares because it was in dire financial straits, but it was keen to settle a few weeks into the protest. The National Party government was not. The fare increase was eventually scrapped. But down the line transport costs rose, and kept on doing so. Now, 61 years later, commuters have had to again stomach substantial hikes in costs — largely due to a steep rise in government fuel levies. The rand has also not helped.

Taxi fares have been hiked by between R1 and R10 for local trips and up to R20 for long-distance journeys from this month, according to reports. But as long-suffering consumers, will we just accept it? Probably.

Earlier this year, fuel levies were raised by 52c a litre — a 22c increase in the general fuel levy and a 30c increase in the Road Accident Fund levy. The total levies on a litre of fuel now exceed R5.

When announced in the February budget — based on an average inland fuel price for the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 financial years — the levies accounted for more than a third of the petrol price and more than 40% of the diesel price, according to the Budget Review. The government’s take from the general fuel levy has risen from R14.4bn in the 2000/2001 financial year to a projected R77.5bn in the 2018/2019 financial year. The RAF levy is an additional R41.2bn in the current financial year.

Protests over the hike have not gained traction partly because the levies are collected by service stations on behalf of the government and there is no option to not pay them if you are filling up (like e-tolls) and partly because the government, with many institutions crippled by mismanagement, misspending and theft, really needs the money.

But the muted tone of the protests is also due to our society being so divided that even a sharp fuel price hike, which affects almost everyone to varying degrees, is still not enough to urge us to action.

But as long-suffering consumers, will we just accept it? Probably.