Gauteng commuters have to dig deep into their pockets as the taxi fare has increased by a record high R5, following the fuel price increase which came into effect from Wednesday.
Taxi drivers have agreed to set their prices up to R5 more for each trip, following the rise in fuel prices in the country. The July has now tipped the cost of petrol to more than R25 per litre. In the beginning of the year, South Africans were paying R19.71 for 95 unleaded petrol, and now for the same petrol costs R26.31.
In May, Bafana Magagula, the chief strategic manager of the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) said the taxi industry had no choice but to increase fares and the fuel prices have reached a record high.
“To be very honest with everyone, I think if South Africans are honest to the situation, they will understand that the taxi industry has taken a knock for too long now and it’s unable to continue taking the knock,” Magagula said at the time.
In some of the surrounding areas in Gauteng the R5 increase was implemented from 1 July 2022, however, some areas are still lenient and have decided to implement the increase from July 8 and others on July 15.
Most taxi fares have increased by R2 for local trips while longer trips have increased by R5.