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JOHANNESBURG – Motorists in South Africa are in for a fuel price shock in June as oil prices continue to climb, and the government’s temporary relief on fuel taxes comes to an end.

In April, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced a temporary reduction in the general fuel levy by R1.50 per litre for April and May.

And amid calls to extend that temporary relief, News24 reported the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe as saying that the intervention will not be extended beyond the end of May.

Mantashe said that the funds raised from the sale of the strategic reserves were only enough to fund the reduced levy for two months. “(At the end of May) we have to meet Treasury to see if there can be anything more that we can do,” Mantashe said last Friday.

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This would mean that motorists face a scenario of paying up to R3.70 per litre more in June, with the most recent under-recovery in petrol prices recorded at around R2.25 per litre.

The Democratic Alliance on Sunday, called for an extension of the fuel tax cut.

“The admission by the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, that the general fuel levy cut won’t be extended beyond the end of May, is an unacceptable dereliction of duty and a failure to enact a sustainable rationalisation of the composition of the fuel price.

“Together with Godongwana, they had two months within which to consult on whether to extend the cut in the fuel levy or provide a more permanent solution through a review of the composition of the fuel price,” the opposition party said.