State must shield the poor from fuel hikes

The rising cost of essentials like fuel, electricity and food is inflicting suffering on low-income households and the poor.

As we report in this newspaper today, hard-pressed consumers, especially the working class, have been forced to dig deep to survive as prices of many basic necessities skyrocket.

Increases in the global price of crude oil are driving the cost of fuel to record levels, with a growing concern that relief measures announced by the government to put the brakes on the fuel levy hike last month could count for nothing. 

This is owing to the war in Eastern Europe between Russia and Ukraine, which economists fear could drive fuel prices even higher. There are also worries that the price of wheat, maize and sunflower oil could also be affected as a result because the two countries are major producers of these items.

The effects on the already struggling poor South Africans who are trying to recover in an economy battered by Covid-19 are devastating. Some households, as we report today, have been forced to go without some food items, use savings for the future and choose between paying for electricity and buying food just to get by.

For the poor and unemployed, the situation is simply untenable as most rely on paraffin for cooking and taxis for transport, yet they too bear the brunt of what happens tens of thousands of kilometres away from them.

This begs the question: is it not time that the government considers ways of shielding the poor from the effects of high fuel prices and perhaps bring them necessary relief?

There is no doubt that rising prices of goods affect us all, but they have the potential to devastate low-income households and the poor more. A government elected by the people should not just stand by and watch as the rising cost of living knocks citizens off their feet.

It must intervene with targeted support, particularly for the low-income households, the poor and unemployed. One way of doing this is to fix the public transport system to ensure the poor and working class enjoy the benefits of subsidised travel without the effects of global oil price increases.