With the petrol price increases over the past few months, taxi commuters will now also have to pay more to get around.
Commuters across the province can brace themselves for hikes as taxi fare increases are on the cards for next week.
As of next Monday, commuters travelling locally will pay between R1 and R1.50 more to get around, while those travelling longer distances can expect to spend between R5 and R10 more per trip.
Travelling from Mdantsane to the East London CBD will now cost R15, up from R14. Long distances such as from East London to King William’s Town is R35, up from R30. Travelling to Butterworth will set you back R100, up from R90, and from East London to Dutywa a trip is R110, up from R100.
Local and long-distance associations said the fare increases were due to the immense pressure taxi businesses had encountered over the past few months due to the repeated petrol hikes.
Earlier in August, minister of energy Jeff Hadebe announced that the latest increase would see motorists pay 1c more for petrol. In July, petrol had increased by 26c, while in June it had gone up by 82c.
Uncedo taxi association spokesperson Vuyani Mbewu said five out of six taxi associations in East London had agreed to the new tariffs in a meeting held last Friday.
The associations present were the Melta, Meta, Mdusta, Eldista and Uncedo taxi associations. Members of the sixth one, Kuyasa, did not show up for the meeting, Mbewu said.
“The associations that were present reached an agreement over the new prices for East London and its surrounding areas. These are caused by the petrol increase, as well as increases in VAT. We came to an agreement that people in rural areas would get a R2 increase while those within East London would get an increase of R1 to R1.50. Long distance travellers will have to pay up to R10 to commute,” he said.
Noah Morrison of the East London and District Taxi Association said: “We’ve carried on in silence for too long ignoring these increases, but we can’t continue like this anymore.”
Petrol price increases leave taxi commuters digging deep
Image: File/ Lee Smith
With the petrol price increases over the past few months, taxi commuters will now also have to pay more to get around.
Commuters across the province can brace themselves for hikes as taxi fare increases are on the cards for next week.
As of next Monday, commuters travelling locally will pay between R1 and R1.50 more to get around, while those travelling longer distances can expect to spend between R5 and R10 more per trip.
Travelling from Mdantsane to the East London CBD will now cost R15, up from R14. Long distances such as from East London to King William’s Town is R35, up from R30. Travelling to Butterworth will set you back R100, up from R90, and from East London to Dutywa a trip is R110, up from R100.
Local and long-distance associations said the fare increases were due to the immense pressure taxi businesses had encountered over the past few months due to the repeated petrol hikes.
Earlier in August, minister of energy Jeff Hadebe announced that the latest increase would see motorists pay 1c more for petrol. In July, petrol had increased by 26c, while in June it had gone up by 82c.
Uncedo taxi association spokesperson Vuyani Mbewu said five out of six taxi associations in East London had agreed to the new tariffs in a meeting held last Friday.
The associations present were the Melta, Meta, Mdusta, Eldista and Uncedo taxi associations. Members of the sixth one, Kuyasa, did not show up for the meeting, Mbewu said.
“The associations that were present reached an agreement over the new prices for East London and its surrounding areas. These are caused by the petrol increase, as well as increases in VAT. We came to an agreement that people in rural areas would get a R2 increase while those within East London would get an increase of R1 to R1.50. Long distance travellers will have to pay up to R10 to commute,” he said.
Noah Morrison of the East London and District Taxi Association said: “We’ve carried on in silence for too long ignoring these increases, but we can’t continue like this anymore.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos