Durban - Parliament has agreed to an urgent debate on the price of petrol next week following calls by the DA for the government to cut the 33 percent tax on fuel.

Kevin Mileham the DA’s Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, said they would use the debate to formally table their workable and practical solutions which would cut more than R6 in tax and levies from every litre of fuel.

Mileham said last month the party had presented its demands to the government which would have led to a dramatic decrease in the fuel price, but the government refused to act.

“The ANC Government has done nothing to slash the fuel price, and has instead only effected a very short term R1.50 discount, which expires in a few weeks,” he said.

The DA has urged all parties in parliament to support the motion.

The party claims that a petrol price petition it started two weeks ago had already garnered 127-thousand signatures which showed that South Africans were outraged by the high cost of fuel.

Meanwhile, various messages have been circulating on social media over the past two week, calling for a nationwide shutdown to protest the cost of fuel.

So far the origins of those messages have not been verified.

The Independent on Saturday

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Parliament agrees to urgent debate on petrol price

Editor’s Note: Some gamble while others tremble