Phiwokuhle Mothemela
The Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy says Transnet is well aware of the negative impact caused by the damaged fuel tanker berth at the Port of Port Elizabeth and is doing all it can to fix it as soon as possible.
Creecy said work to repair the berth has already commenced, however, motorists in Nelson Mandela Bay were excluded from a large petrol reduction price that came into effect at midnight
"The intention is that the work should be completed on the 6 December, and Transnet's office is putting pressure that work should be completed by the end of November."
She said the reason for the pressure is that they are well aware of the impact that it is having on motorists in the Bay.
Creecy said though fuel is not her domain, she believes the minimal reduction in petrol costs is due to transportation costs from East London.
Quizzed on the price to repair the berth Creecy replied: "The repairs will cost about R20 million."
She also said a preliminary report has been submitted to the Marine Board of Inquiry to establish who will be held liable for the vessel that crashed and that process will take no longer than 6 months.
This week the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources announced fuel price adjustments for October with all grades of petrol dropping by R1.06 and R1.14 a litre respectively, diesel came down by R1.12 and R1.14 cents a litre, and illuminating paraffin dropping by R1.11 c/l.
At the same time, the Department said the Minister, Gwede Mantashe, had approved an interim adjustment of all the affected magisterial district zones in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, largely due to the “temporary closure of the Port of Port Elizabeth”.
"All the costs of taking fuel to those zones have changed now because of the closure of the port there. This is a temporary change until the port is fixed. The adjustment to the road transport tariffs applicable to petrol, diesel, and IP price structures will range from a decrease of 0.9 c/l in Zone 9A to an increase of 10.5 c/l in Zone 8B," said Robert Maake of the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources.
The move drew a sharp response from the Nelson Mandela Business Chamber which said it was considering all its options.
NMB Chamber CEO, Denise van Huysteen, said the "unilateral" decision has resulted in the area being unfairly subjected to new pricing tariffs, and consumers and businesses will pay more for their fuel than what they should normally have been subjected to as part of a coastal region.
"In practical terms on the price of 95 unleaded fuel, this means that consumers in the Bay received an 83 cents reduction instead of 114 cents, while those in Kariega were penalised even more with a 50 cents reduction and the Kirkwood area with a 45 cents reduction.
"In terms of diesel, the Bay received a 73 cents reduction, Kariega a 50 cents reduction and the Kirkwood area got a 45 cents reduction," Van Huysteen said.
Read more: Gov approves interim adjustments for NMB fuel price structure
