Twitter asks ‘why bother’ as petrol price goes up by 1c

Eyewitness News’ official Twitter account was roasted on Monday for reporting that the petrol price will be increasing by 1 cent on the 1st of August.

While their report was accurate, some felt that after a series of large increases, the fact that the price is being raised by a measly one cent is not newsworthy enough.

Perhaps South Africans are experiencing “petrol hike fatigue” after a series of increases have made their lives harder.

On July 4 the price was raised by between 23 and 26 cents a litre, after previously being raised by a whopping 82 cents per litre. The accumulated increases pushed the petrol price to a record R16.02 per litre.

It’s understandable that after these past increases the news of a 1c increase failed to shock South Africa’s online community.

ALERT: The #Petrolprice will increase by R0.01c on 1 Aug.

— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) July 30, 2018

READ MORE: Further petrol price hike will hit hard

One user asked if the person in charge of the Twitter account had “been sniffing petrol”, while another said “we are being disrespected here” and another asked “like seriously?”

Several commented “mxm”.  Other comments have been left out of this piece due to strong language.

https://twitter.com/amglenister/status/1023908826100260864

We are being disrespected here.

— matome w senyolo (@mwsenyolo) July 30, 2018

1 cent? Like seriously?

— shandu (@shandu79990841) July 30, 2018

In early July, the Economic Freedom Fighters called the two petrol price hikes in two months evidence of the government’s incompetence in economic planning.

The party noted the two consecutive petrol increases in less than two months, on the back of VAT hikes, unwelcome electricity price hikes due to corruption at Eskom, and the increase in income tax was a ploy to leave many people in debt.

Many complained the petrol hike would result in a knock-on effect on the price of food and transport, which people depended on daily.

In contrast, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel has said government cannot do much about the increase in fuel prices, which he claims are in line with global trends.

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