Fuel price drop is scant relief

WHILE heartily welcome, the expected fuel and paraffin price decreases forecast for September will bring scant relief to a populace buckling under electricity, interest rate and food price hikes.

It’s not just those at the lower end of the income spectrum who are suffering; even middle-income earners are struggling to put food on the table.

While some of the problem can surely be attributed to bad financial management, where luxuries are prioritised over necessities, a nearly 40% year-on-year increase in the fuel price, and steep inflation and electricity price hikes have also played their part.

Debt rescue experts say many households are broke a week after pay day, forcing them to rely on credit for the rest of the month.

Some will point to the war in Ukraine as the cause of much of the grief, but fuel, food and power prices were already high before Russia attacked its neighbour; the conflict just escalated matters.

No – much of the blame should be shouldered by those behind the years of state capture during which, according to one estimate, R1.4 trillion was looted. Money which could have been used to cushion fuel prices and improve Eskom’s infrastructure.

Few of those responsible have had justice meted out to them, and little of the money has been recovered. Many of those responsible remain in their positions, meaning that, as whistle-blower Athol Williams warns, state capture could happen again.

In the Bain case, we are asked to believe that just two junior staff were responsible for a R2.4 million contract ballooning into one worth R164m.

Bain has repaid its ill-gotten gains, but this is a speck on the side of the R1.4trln chasm created in the state coffers.

More perplexing – or perhaps not so much – is the South African government’s lack of appetite to act against organisations and individuals like Bain, which has been sanctioned in Britain, but still does work here for Sasol.

The long-suffering poor cannot be expected to endure these wrongs much longer. Last year’s riots and looting showed how little it takes to set the country on fire. Hungry stomachs will surely only fan the flames.