11 June 2025
The Free Market Foundation (FMF) has warned government that it is irresponsible to proceed with the adoption of the fuel levy given the widespread social consensus, across ideological lines, on it being misguided.
This comes after the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), consistent with its earlier opposition to the proposed value-added tax (VAT) increase, condemned the fuel levy increase mooted in the 2025 budget.
“That two polarised institutions, with the FMF on the side of free market capitalism, and the EFF on the side of total state communism, could agree about an ill-considered policy is saying something important,” says FMF CEO David Ansara.
A fuel levy increase represents an unacceptable additional burden on the poorest of the poor of South Africa’s people.
This shared concern over the fuel levy underscores a larger, more pervasive problem: the excessive size and cost of government in South Africa.
In 2024, the FMF published its paper, “Liberty First: Size of Government,” providing a detailed analysis and actionable solutions to address the country’s unsustainable fiscal trajectory.
FMF Head of Policy Martin van Staden argues in the paper that South Africa’s rampant state spending can be effectively tackled through rigorous enforcement of fiscal responsibility, the implementation of crucial tax reform to ensure fairer returns for taxpayers, and a commitment to privatisation to end the wasteful allocation of resources on inefficient public services.
“The primary financial priority of a free people should be their own prosperity, not the perpetuation of a bloated and inefficient state,” says Ansara. “South African taxpayers currently bear an immensely unfair burden.”
The FMF regards it as inappropriate that as government performance deteriorates, taxpayers are continually required to hand over more of their hard-earned money.
“It’s time to relieve the burden on taxpayers and allow them to save and invest their money back into the economy,” concludes Ansara.
Click here to read the full “Liberty First: Size of Government” paper and view the comprehensive Liberty First reform package.
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