Godongwana denies fuel levy cut is an election ploy
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana rejected EFF claims that the temporary fuel levy cut is meant to win votes before the local government elections. He said the 4 November start date is a coincidence linked to the fuel price change.
Godongwana spoke on Thursday at a breakfast in Cape Town after the medium-term budget policy statement. He said the date follows the fuel price change on the first Wednesday of the month. He said: "These people are leading with elections when the date has got nothing to do with elections at all".
The levy will fall by R3 per litre for diesel and R1.50 per litre for petrol. The cut runs from 4 November until December. Opposition MPs, including the EFF, called it an attempt to appease voters.
Godongwana also spoke about problems in municipalities. He said they are deeper and more complex than broad cost drivers, and they affect investment and development. He said a close friend in business told him a rezoning licence takes 80 days in one municipality and sometimes 200 days in another.
Key facts
- Who
- Enoch Godongwana (Finance minister); Isaah Mhlanga (RMB chief economist, moderator of the breakfast); EFF (opposition party whose MPs criticised the announcement); RMB (organiser of the post-MTBPS breakfast)
- What
- Godongwana, speaking at a post-MTBPS breakfast in Cape Town, rejected EFF claims that the temporary fuel levy cut, starting November 4, was an election ploy, saying the date was a coincidence tied to the first-Wednesday fuel price change. He also said municipal challenges were complex and affected investment and development.
- When
- 22 October 2026
- Where
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Status
- Reported