Pick n Pay CEO Pieter Boone, Spar CEO Mike Bosman and Shoprite Checkers CEO Pieter Engelbrecht have implored the government to reconsider its decision on the diesel fuel refund levy.
“The government has accepted the logic that the food industry should not be penalised for the energy crisis but has only done half the job,” they said in a joint statement on Thursday.
“Our supermarkets are on the front line in keeping the lights on and the shelves and chillers stacked for customers during load-shedding. It is costing us billions of rand in diesel to fuel our emergency generators.”
They said while “doing our best” to absorb as much of this additional cost as possible, rather than pass it onto the public, “we cannot do so indefinitely”.
“We urgently ask the government to look again and extend the refund to retailers,” they added, warning that stable supplies of food, medicines and other essential goods could not be guaranteed unless the load-shedding crisis was urgently addressed.
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Budget 2023: CEOs of top food retailers want government to rethink diesel fuel levy refund
Image: Sydney Seshibedi
Pick n Pay CEO Pieter Boone, Spar CEO Mike Bosman and Shoprite Checkers CEO Pieter Engelbrecht have implored the government to reconsider its decision on the diesel fuel refund levy.
“The government has accepted the logic that the food industry should not be penalised for the energy crisis but has only done half the job,” they said in a joint statement on Thursday.
“Our supermarkets are on the front line in keeping the lights on and the shelves and chillers stacked for customers during load-shedding. It is costing us billions of rand in diesel to fuel our emergency generators.”
They said while “doing our best” to absorb as much of this additional cost as possible, rather than pass it onto the public, “we cannot do so indefinitely”.
“We urgently ask the government to look again and extend the refund to retailers,” they added, warning that stable supplies of food, medicines and other essential goods could not be guaranteed unless the load-shedding crisis was urgently addressed.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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