Cape Town - The expected 32 cents a litre price increase in illuminating paraffin set to kick in next month has been described as an attack on the poor and vulnerable.
The Automobile Association, which was commenting on unaudited, month-end fuel price data released by the Central Energy Fund, said it forecasts that petrol looked set to increase by around 23 cents a litre, diesel by 38 cents and illuminating paraffin by 32 cents.
"This increase is going to be very difficult for those who use paraffin for cooking, lighting, and especially heating, as South Africa heads into the heart of winter," the AA said.
Twenty-two-year-old Anezwa Magudugudu, who has just lost her job as a waitress due to the level 4 restrictions, said the increase does not favour the poor.
“Times are tough now, nothing seems to be going well for the country and for its citizens. The day the president announced that we are going back to level 4 I just couldn't believe it, because I just returned to work a few months back and now, again, it's the old story.
“I have a one-year-old that I have to take care of. It's winter time already; I was struggling to pay the rent because I had to buy clothes for my child and also had to pay a nanny to look after my child.
“Paraffin prices are going up and tell me how the poor and unemployed are going to survive? Because they use paraffin to cook and warm the house,” Magudugudu said.
“Whoever decided to increase the price of paraffin was driven by profit, not humanity, because you can't increase the prices during this crucial time of the season and time of this economic crisis that the country is going through.
“Right now I have nothing to do and will have to live by handouts from my friends and family members because the little that I have is not even enough to survive the coming two weeks,” she said.
Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF) chairperson Ndithini Tyhido said the increase was unfair.
“Increasing paraffin prices during the Covid-19 pandemic is an insult to the poor, because at the end of the day this affects the end user,” he said.
“People have just lost their jobs and those are poor people who depend on paraffin, and they are not earning much at their workplace. Some even earn by getting tips, and that means if one did not get tips then they have nothing to put on the table when they get home.”
Cape Times