PRETORIA – Mines and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said South Africa should look no further than Russia for cheap crude oil in order to reduce fuel costs.
It comes after members of the National Assembly discussed rising fuel prices again, with some suggesting South Africa can look to Russia to ease the pressure.
Mantashe seemed to support the idea though it may receive backlash due to the campaign to isolate Russia after its invasion of Ukraine recently.
“We should consider importing crude oil from Russia at a low price because it is not sanctioned. Of all the sanctions, there are no sanctions on crude oil, so we can import crude oil from Russia at a lower price,” Mantashe said.
Mantashe said the country should also seek other solutions such as gas and oil exploration.
In the National Assembly, parties made a number of proposals, such as removing the levy on the traffic accident fund from the price of fuel in order to reduce costs.
The debate comes after the recent fuel hike, which took the price of petrol to almost R25 a litre.
However, the African National Congress (ANC) rejected some proposals such as fuel price deregulation, saying it could hit smaller operators harder.
