News24 reports that the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) warned on Sunday that taxi fares would possibly increase by between R1 and R5 per journey, depending on the region, following a petrol price increase of 67c per litre.  

Santaco spokesperson Thabisho Molelekwa said the industry would try its best to reduce the blow to consumers while keeping operators afloat and also added:  “We all know that the economy is struggling which increases the pressure on all fronts for taxi operators.  Taxi operators need to navigate increased fuel prices, maintenance cost, paying vehicle instalments while keeping prices affordable.”  In 2016, a Statistics SA report found that 51.0% of households were dependent on taxis for transport.  The ‘Measuring Household Expenditure on Public Transport’ report found that 66.6% of the population spent more than 20% of their monthly income on public transport.

• Read this report by James de Villiers in full at News24
• See too, Santaco warns taxi fare hike on the cards, at EWN

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page