WC High Court dimisses EFF's application to suspend fuel levy increase
The red berets had approached the court to suspend the increase before it comes into effect on Wednesday, and also review the minister’s decision in his budget speech last month.
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CAPE TOWN - The fuel levy increase will come into effect at midnight after the Western Cape High Court dismissed the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)’s application to suspend it.
The EFF had approached the court to suspend the increase before it comes into effect on Wednesday, and also review the minister’s decision in his budget speech last month.
But Minister Enoch Godongwana defended the decision, arguing in court that it was not another tax but rather a regulatory charge that the minister is empowered to implement.
The EFF argued in court that Godongwana encroached Parliament’s powers when he announced the levy increase.
ALSO READ: EFF argues Godongwana has no powers to increase fuel levy
The party says the minister also failed to introduce a money bill as required when imposing a tax, and this needs to be processed by Parliament.
It says the minister instead relied on Section 48 of the Customs and Excise Act, which deals with duties on goods and customs, not general taxation.
Godongwana’s legal counsel, Adv Kameel Premhid, told a full bench that the increase is not a tax but a regulation.
"Regulatory charges bring in money, so they might raise revenue. But that doesn’t make it a tax, and just because a tax also raises revenue, the two are not the same thing."
Godongwana’s court victory means that from Wednesday, motorists will pay an extra 16 cents per litre for petrol and 15 cents more per litre for diesel.