Petrol hikes could fuel food riots

WITH regard to the latest petrol price increase, it is time citizens said enough is enough!

The hike of 52c a litre in the fuel levy does not justify the increase in petrol by a massive 72c a litre. For many months the price of Brent crude oil has been relatively steady trading at around $60 a barrel and the rand has strengthened considerably against the US dollar since the beginning of the year. I believe this should have offset the fuel levy announced in the Budget.

The fuel price increase will again adversely affect every wage earner and increase the desperation among the millions of unemployed people.

The VAT increase, coupled with the increase in the fuel levy, is exacerbating the dire situation the poor already face. What must be borne in mind is that every fuel price increase erodes the subsistence level of the indigent.

When we see service delivery protests, they are not about food costs but water, electricity and other government services. But we will now see more overt protests about putting food on the tables.

South Africa is fast approaching a tipping point where widespread hunger riots and food protests emerge. Low-income-earning households are not going to escape the VAT increase because the fundamental problem is that food is expensive and South Africans face a “food affordability crisis”.

Before the VAT and petrol price increases, households were not prioritising buying food to make ends meet. They are differentiating between non-negotiable expenses and those expenses they have some measure of control over. Households prioritise transport, electricity, water, education, burial insurance and repayment of debts.

The food budget arises out of money left over only after other non-negotiable expenses have been paid. This means that, for many households, the food budget is low. Food often runs out before month-end and the breadwinner absorbs these shortfalls by taking on more debt.

There is still no light at the end of the tunnel as economists warn there will be another petrol price increase in May. An already critical situation is being exacerbated by the government. The greatest irony is that our petrol price is higher than in our neighbouring countries, which receive their supply from South Africa.

JAYRAJ BACHU Clare Estate