BREAKING: Fuel levy hike to go ahead as EFF fails in court
Petrol pumps are pictured at a filling station in Melville on 20 January 2021. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark
The EFF has lost its urgent bid to halt the upcoming increase in the general fuel levy.
The Western Cape High Court in Cape Town ruled against the party on Tuesday, a day before the new levy was set to take effect.
The EFF had sought an urgent interdict in Part A of its court application to suspend the planned hike of 16 cents per litre for petrol and 15 cents for diesel.
In Part B of the application, the EFF called for a review and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's decision to be set aside.
The party also asked the court to order the minister to pay legal costs.
ALSO READ: 'We have a National Treasury problem': Fuel levy hike defended amid criticism over tax strategy
Advocate Mfesane Ka-Siboto, representing the EFF in court, argued that the minister's decision lacked both rationality and parliamentary oversight.
Ka-Siboto told the court, in accordance with the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, only a law could serve as the proper instrument for the minister to impose a tax.
'What is clear is that the minister is imposing tax,' the lawyer said
He cited the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act as the legal framework the minister should have followed.
Ka-Siboto also warned that the levy hike, once enacted, would be irreversible.
This is a developing story
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