Water and lights freebie for ministers was just wrong

On Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced he would withdraw an amendment to the ministerial handbook which afforded new privileges to ministers and their deputies, including free water and electricity at their official residences. The U-turn was not made after an assessment of the situation in which SA finds itself, or in the knowledge that taxpayers would have had to fork out an additional R87m to foot the bill for these perks, but after a public backlash.

Cosatu described the water and lights freebie as “shameless” while the DA threatened protests.

There was a wave of criticism, with many people questioning why ministers and their deputies, who earn between R2m and R2.4m a year, would be afforded such luxuries while South Africans are battling the high cost of living and small businesses struggling to stay afloat.

The Automobile Association warned consumers this week to brace themselves for a possible increase in the price of fuel next month.

“The current data shows petrol is expected to increase between 41c and 51c a litre but the real concern is the likely increases in diesel prices. The data is showing diesel will climb by [about] R1.60/l, a substantial increase,” the association said in a statement on Monday.

With consumers already paying far more for basic foodstuffs, an increase in the fuel price will hit the pocket hard.

Power utility Eskom pushed up load-shedding to stage 4 this week. The rolling electricity blackouts have had a devastating effect on households and industries.

Small businesses without the resources to keep the lights on have had no option but to close their doors and turn away customers.

In a country with an official unemployment rate of 34.5%,the continued outages pose a very real threat to an already precarious jobs situation.

Taking a closer look at the provincial numbers, the picture in the Eastern Cape is grim. Joblessness in the province is sitting at 42.8%. According to official statistics, 47.8% of residents were grant recipients last year.

And the country’s economic outlook has not improved. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its projection for SA’S economic growth in 2022 from 2.3% in July to 2.1%.

The outlook for 2023 is even more grim, with the IMF forecasting 1.1% growth for the year.

Millions of South Africans are struggling to put food on the table each day.

We have enough problems dominating the public discourse — and demands on the fiscus — without being expected to supplement the incomes of politicians who are already well-compensated.

Millions of South Africans are struggling to put food on the table each day