‘Petrol price increase will worsen cost of living and affect workers’ – Saftu

With the price of petrol now costing  R25.68 inland, political parties and unions said consumers will be faced with a grim situation of being forced to choose between putting food on the table and spending more of their income on transport.

On Monday, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) announced further fuel price hikes which came into effect on Wednesday, 4 October.

Consumers will now pay between R1.08 and R1.14 more for petrol while diesel increased by R1.93 and R1.96 per litre.

Concerns

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) spokesperson Trevor Shaktu said the trade union federation is concerned by the increase in the petrol price.

“This eighth consecutive increase in especially petrol and diesel will worsen the cost of living and affect the working class negatively.

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“These price increases will affect workers and the unemployed in at least three main ways: Elevating costs of fuel for vehicle owners, causing road transport fare to rise and causing prices of other goods to also increase,” Shaktu said.

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DA march

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) is expected to lead a mass march on Wednesday in protest of the high cost of living.

The party said the march will take place in the Eastern Cape.

“This is where desperate poverty is leading to people allegedly taking the lives of their children to escape from its clutches.

“Wednesday also marks another steep rise in government-controlled fuel prices, which will further cripple and impoverish South Africa, while the ANC government enjoys the rising tax revenue from fuel,” the party said.

The DA said it will march to the offices of the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development to hand over a memorandum requesting immediate intervention.

“The situation is so desperate that last month a young mother from Butterworth allegedly took the lives of her three children, before killing herself, as she could no longer put food on the table,” the party claimed.

ALSO READ: Household food basket prices keep increasing for the poor