Fuel and electricity hikes hit the poor hard

THE poorest of the poor households have to dig deeper into their pockets due to the recent hikes in the prices of fuel and electricity, making it harder for them to put food on the table and meet their everyday needs.

Fuel prices shot up on April 1, with 93 octane increasing by 95 cents per litre and 95 octane by R1 per litre. The price of diesel rose by between 63c and 65c. In a double blow for South Africans, the cost of electricity went up by 15% this month.

The Automobile Association attributed the hikes to international oil prices and fuel levies, among other factors.

Economist Professor Bonke Dumisa said people should cut out what they could do without in order to survive.

He said things could have been worse, because Eskom had initially wanted to increase the cost of electricity by 27%.

“People are already feeling the pinch. It could have been worse. We were saved by the strong rand. My advice to people, especially those in the poorest of the poor households, to hang in there and try by all means to adjust their spending.

“When there is a petrol hike, the price of transport also increases, which accounts for the highest percentage,” said Dumisa.

He predicted a slight drop in the fuel price in May.

In the case of electricity, he said, municipalities had a list of indigent families who benefited from discounts in order to afford electricity, but when it came to fuel, no one was exempted from the increases.

The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) KZN chairperson Boy Zondi said no fare increase was planned because of the fuel price increase.

“The decision we have taken as Santaco is that we will only have one price increase that happens once a year on July 1,” said Zondi.

Residents said they were now struggling to pay for everyday needs, such as electricity and water.

Zanele Gumede, a community leader in Ntuzuma, said residents were complaining that they could not make ends meet.

She said many people in her community had lost their jobs due to Covid-19.

She has noticed that an electricity voucher that used to last her at least two weeks now lasted less than two weeks.

Shack-dwellers movement Abahlali baseMjondolo said they were concerned that the social costs of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the government’s responses to it, have hit the poorest of the poor in the shack settlements and rural areas.

Abahlali baseMjondolo spokesperson Thapelo Mohapi said a large number of people had already lost jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Many families are going to bed without food. Parents are boiling leaves in water to at least give their children something in their stomachs. Many are depressed and anxious. Parents do not know where their next meal will come from. There is no hope. All we see are long queues at the Post Office for the R350 social grant.”

Mohapi said the crisis was deepening, and the fuel and electricity increases had worsened the situation.