Fans of SUVs and powerful sports cars will be in for a shock if Elsa du Toit, director of energy efficiency at the department of minerals and energy, has her way.
She intends recommending to Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel that heavy levies be imposed on gas guzzlers because of the drain they are on fuel resources and 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.
Not even small cars would escape.
Based on a formula taking into account fuel efficiency, percentage of power used and greenhouse-gas emissions, even a 1.16i hatchback costing R193 000 would fetch an extra R3 860.
She says market forces alone are not enough to make people change their ways. Incentives and penalties are now needed.
Du Toit was speaking at a media and stakeholder briefing in Johannesburg yesterday on the contribution being made to energy savings by Energy Plus - an initiative to assess how energy-efficient businesses run their operations.