DA urges minister to block unfair fuel costs for struggling NMB residents

Gwede Mantashe is expected to put the livelihoods of Nelson Mandela Bay residents ahead of a request from the Liquid Fuels Wholesalers Association to exempt the region from the planned drop in the national fuel price.

Port Elizabeth port infrastructure, used to unload fuel, has been damaged and is not operational. This means the fuel must be unloaded at East London Port until Port Elizabeth is repaired, a process which will take more than a year. Fuel wholesalers have requested that for petrol pricing purposes, Nelson Mandela Bay be treated as an inland region where petrol prices are slightly higher. They want the extra money to compensate them for what they say are the higher costs of transporting fuel from East London.

This exemption, if granted, would unfairly impose higher fuel costs on residents of Nelson Mandela Bay, at a time when they are already facing immense economic pressure, compounded by ongoing power outages and disruptions to services. essential services. The request made by the LFWA is not only unjustified and an unethical act of profiteering, but also ignores the reality that transport costs to Nelson Mandela Bay are already factored into the base price methodology of the fuel from South Africa.

The DA has written to the minister urging him to reject the attempt to deny Nelson Mandela Bay residents the same fuel price reduction as the rest of the country. We further call on the Minister to ensure that Transnet accelerates repairs to damaged port infrastructure, restoring normal operations as soon as possible, so that such disruptions do not occur in the future.

There is no way the people of Nelson Mandela Bay will suffer financially from mistakes made at the port. Mantashe cannot agree to put the profits of fuel wholesalers ahead of the interests of the residents of an entire city.

The DA will continue to fight for the economic well-being of all South Africans, ensuring that no community is harmed by an unjust decision.