Fans of SUVs and powerful sports cars will be in for a shock if Dr Elsa du Toit, director of energy efficiency at the Department of Minerals and Energy, has her way.
She intends recommending to Finance Minister Trevor Manuel that heavy levies be imposed on gas guzzlers because of the drain they are on fuel resources. Also because of the contribution they make to climate change through the disproportionate amounts of carbon dioxide they emit. Her proposal is that a levy of up to 33 percent be imposed on the selling price of SUVs, in addition to a 100 percent levy on the annual licensing fee.
For large sports cars she proposes a 20 percent levy on the selling price and a 40 percent levy on the annual licensing fee.
Her calculations are that such an "energy efficiency levy" would come to R182 160 on a 4.8i SUV costing R759 000.
A sports car of R850 000 would cost an extra R280 500.
Based on a formula taking into account fuel efficiency, percentage of power used and greenhouse-gas emissions, even a 1.16i hatchback would cost extra.
She says market forces alone are not enough to make people change their ways. Incentives and penalties are now needed. "People must see the sense of buying the right car."
She says she nearly overturned her car when she first saw a newspaper poster along the road announcing that the heavy American Hummer off-road vehicle was coming to South Africa. "What are we thinking?"
Energy efficiency is now recognised worldwide as the most important cost-effective way of meeting the demands of sustainable development. Such efficiencies need to extend into government and business buildings, and into homes and people's lifestyles, she said.