CCSA gives govt 14 days to cut fuel prices or face national shutdown

The Concerned Citizens of South Africa (CCSA) has issued a 14-day ultimatum to the government, demanding a 50 percent drop in fuel prices or risking a national shutdown lasting three days. The activist group staged a protest in major cities such as Pretoria and Cape Town, urging for lower fuel taxes and a review of the fuel-pricing formula.

CCSA's spokesperson, Siphiwe Mpungose, warned that if the government fails to heed their call, they will enlist the support of truck and taxi associations, along with SANTACO, to enforce a nationwide no-vehicle movement. "Government must listen to us this time," Mpungose pleaded. "If they don’t listen, we are mobilising all forces, including the unions, the truck associations and SANTACO to make sure that we implement a three-day no vehicle movement, no filling of fuel for three days so that the government will feel the heat and also feel what we are also feeling now."

Mpungose suggested that reducing the petrol price to R15 per litre would bring significant relief to consumers. "All those levies, for now, the government needs to put them aside," she stressed. "We pay R15 a litre. That will be good for the economy, and that will be good for the citizens who are bearing the costs of these levies on food, transport, you name it, because petrol prices affect everything across the spectrum. So, we can’t keep quiet anymore as citizens. We are saying R15 is what we are prepared to pay."