If you live in Protea Glen, Soweto and commute to the Johannesburg CBD on public transport, from tomorrow you will pay R27 per trip, R5 more than before.
Similarly, if you live in Mamelodi and commute to the Pretoria CBD, a single trip will now cost your R25.
The picture is pretty much the similar throughout the country.
Yesterday the latest Household Affordability Index showed us that the average cost of a goods basket increased by R560.57 (13.6%), from R4,128.23 in June 2021 to R4,688.81 in June 2022.
Most concerning is the inflation on stable food which households cannot afford.
Taxi operators are pointing to record high increases in fuel costs with some saying without a notable financial injection, they cannot service their debt let alone continue daily business operations.
The knock-on effects of this are astounding.
For commuters we spoke to the other day, some who trade in the inner city, these increases are likely to push them out of the CBD, back to selling their goods for little to no income in their own communities.
Simply put, the cost of living is fast spiralling out of control and threatens to push many households deeper into poverty.
What this means is that for a nation already battling with joblessness and hunger, we are likely to see more people destitute in the coming days and months. The ripple effect may take years to reverse and recover from.
As things stand, the government has shown little innovation and proactiveness to cushion ordinary folk from this disaster.
Granted, SA has one of the largest social relief programmes in the world. A significant amount of our public purse goes to social grants, which indeed bring some relief to many households. But the situation we find ourselves in will need much more than the standard form of relief we are accustomed to.
We need a set of economic and policy interventions from the government and the private sector that should minimise the blow of global economic elements to which we have become extremely vulnerable.
We need bolder decision-making on state-owned entities whose dismal performance is a threat to our economic survival. Chief among these is Eskom, which has increasingly proven to lack the leadership and efficiency to fulfil its mandate.
Our economic crisis poses the biggest threat to our social stability. History throughout the world has taught us that economic strife is arguably the biggest catalyst for social uprising.
For us too, the writing is on the wall.
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