Consumers face challenge of rising food, fuel prices
A Pietermaritzburg-based NGO that monitors socio-economic events in the country feels the predicted fuel price increases for May, coupled with the recent downgrade of our economy to junk status, will see South Africans putting less food on the table.
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The Automobile Association of South Africa announced its mid-month fuel price predictions yesterday. It expects petrol to go up by around 55-cents a litre while diesel could increase by 39-cents.
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Mervyn Abrahams with the Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action says they've observed a close relationship between fuel price fluctuation and the cost of food.
"Fuel has an effect right through the food production process because of transport, the price of plastic etc. It as an impact throughout the food process. We are expecting that times will get harder for working class and poor households," he said.