Truckers question validity of pending carbon tax

Uncertainty reigns over the impact of the pending carbon tax as the road freight industry fears the burden of yet another cost. The tax, set to be implemented in 2016, came under the spotlight at the recent Road Freight Association (RFA) conference in Natal where questions were raised as to why the country was implementing it and whether it was even needed. “If everyone in the world is introducing such a tax one could argue that South Africa needs to follow suit, but if the country is one of only a handful of countries implementing this – which seems to be the case – are we not just placing ourselves at a competitive disadvantage by increasing our costs,” argued economist Mike Schüssler. He said already logistics costs in South Africa were high while the country was not considered to be very efficient at best – and a further tax would just be detrimental. Gerhard Marais of SI Group agreed, saying the road freight industry was not opposed to paying tax but was questioning the fairness of the carbon tax. “It feels to me as an operator we are bearing the brunt of costs that just keep getting thrown at us. Municipalities come up with more and more ingenious ways of fining us, while more taxes and levies are introduced all the time,” he said. “There seems to be a culture where we must just pay up.” He said there was no denying that the road freight industry burned fuel and had a vested interest in reducing carbon footprint. “But what are the benefits for us in this tax? At this stage it seems to be a punitive measure and that is not going to be accepted.” The proposed carbon tax – expected to be implemented by no later than 2016 – will be paid at the primary emitters’ level. That includes refineries and Eskom for the most part – but it will affect the road transport industry significantly as it will increase the price of fuel by an estimated 47 cents per litre. Eskom, the country’s biggest carbon emitter, is currently being considered for exemption from the tax. Edward Funyufunyu, a senior manager in the logistics unit at Eskom, said the parastatal had no capacity at present to foot any further taxes. “There is just no capacity and we cannot take this on board. We are in continued discussions for exemption,” he said. At the same time the refineries have said they are not willing to pay the R40- billion bill for the upgrading of their facilities to produce cleaner fuel. INSERT & CAPTION If SA is one of only a handful of countries implementing this are we not just placing ourselves at a competitive disadvantage by increasing our costs? – Mike Schüssler