November fuel price hikes adding pressure on households, warns NGO
A local NGO says the fuel price hikes expected from next week are going to put more pressure on households already contending with higher food prices.
The Automobile Association is predicting petrol will cost nearly a rand more per litre.
Diesel and illuminating paraffin are expected to go up by around R1.40 cents a litre.
The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity group says the average household food basket has gone up by 2.3% month-on-month, costing just over R4 300 this month.
"Any increase in food prices takes food off the table, and taxi fares have also gone up. Electricity prices have also gone up.
"We are also having a lot of blackouts, load shedding and reduction that add to the cost of actually putting food on the table,” says researcher Julie Smith.
"What it means is that people are buying less food and buying more of the same foods, like the main core staples, those are the main things on the plate that will affect the quality of nutrition for everybody in the household particularly for children and for women."
