The Western Cape High Court has dismissed an application by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) against the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana seeking to have the fuel levy increase declared unlawful.
Despite this, the red berets are adamant that taxation without representation is arbitrary and unconstitutional, and leaves room for abuse by the National Treasury.
“The EFF has always held the view that any form of general taxation must be subject to a vote by democratically elected public representatives in Parliament. The EFF approached the courts in defence of the impoverished and the working class, who have been completely abandoned by the former liberation movement,” the party reiterated.
Socio- economic woes
The party lambasted government for the country’s continued socio- economic woes and intends on exploring other avenues to halt treasury’s decision.
“Additionally, the EFF will use its parliamentary presence to introduce necessary amendments to relevant legislation to prevent the National Treasury from bypassing Parliament and imposing taxation without proper democratic oversight in future,” according to the party.
The party launched an urgent application to suspend an “impugned” decision by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, who announced this during his third attempt at delivering the national budget on May 21.
Godongwana announced that fuel levies would increase by 16 cents per litre for petrol and 15 cents per litre for diesel. The increase is set to take effect on June 4.
In Part A of the application, the EFF requested that the court hear the matter urgently and suspend Godongwana’s decision to increase the levy until the full application is considered.
In Part B of the application, the EFF appealed to the courts to fully review and set aside the decision to raise the fuel levy.
New fuel prices
The red berets also wanted the court to order Godongwana and any other respondents who oppose the case to foot the legal bill, including the fees of two legal counsels.
Meanwhile, The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) on Tuesday released the new fuel prices following the dismissal of the court battle. Petrol to decrease by 5 cents a litre, diesel by 36.9 cents.
