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The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber said fuel price adjustments announced on Tuesday continue to penalise the Metro's consumers for the cost of hauliers transporting fuel by road from East London, due to the berth at the Port Elizabeth port not being operational.
With the completion date extended by three more days to 11 December by Transnet National Ports Authority, the Chamber said it remained unclear when the berth would be operational again.
The fuel berth was damaged by a tanker in June and delays in repairs led to ships docking in East London and hauliers having to incur the additional transport costs for collecting their product there.
The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, in response, implemented revised transport tariffs in October, November and now December which resulted in interim zone changes in the affected areas, to allow the industry hauliers to recover their fuel transportation costs.
Chamber CEO, Denise van Huysteen, said its estimated that since the rezoning, there has been an irrecoverable loss to the local economy of approximately R50 million rand a month.
She said when fuel price adjustments kick-in on Wednesday, local consumers will accumulatively be paying R2.49 more per litre for 95 unleaded fuel, diesel and paraffin versus what they would have paid if the area was still a coastal zone.
“It is our view that the additional costs incurred to date in transporting these fuels into the area by road has been unfairly passed on to businesses, consumers, commuters and local communities.
Van Huysteen said none of these key stakeholders were consulted prior to the rezoning, adding that businesses, consumers, commuters and local communities have been made to bear the brunt of a shipping vessel accident, not caused by them, by paying inflated prices for fuel and indirectly for other goods and services.
“We believe that this pricing structure is supposed to be temporary in nature, and that once the fuel berth is repaired, the area will return back to its former allotted zone.
“We therefore urge the relevant role players to accelerate efforts in this regard to ensure that Nelson Mandela Bay can be reinstated as a coastal fuel pricing zone from January 2025,” Van Huyssteen said.
