MOTORISTS must now surely be dreading a trip to the filling station. The nation woke up this week to petrol pump pricing fast approaching record levels.
The inland price of 93 high octane is now R11.97, 93c more than they would have paid at 11.59pm the previous day. It was the biggest single increase in a month since the country became exposed to the vagaries of the open global market.
Yet the farther you drive inland, the steeper the price becomes at the pumps.
Many will recall that it was headline news when the price reached the R5 mark not more than a decade ago. That now seems like a make-believe story
Record price levels were witnessed earlier this year when motorists were asked to part with more than R12 a litre.
Sadly, though, the ripple effects of the combination of a plunge in the rand-dollar exchange rate, an increase in the price of crude oil and other factors are felt long after users leave the petrol station.
The price of food, especially staple commodities, increase and the vast majority of people in this country feel the sting more acutely.
The outlook seems even bleaker if recent trends are anything to go by. A leading economist says South Africans should brace themselves for the worst, with forecasts of a 20c price hike next month. Couple this with the daily reports of job losses and scarier picture emerges.
How much further can we tighten that murderously tight belt?
CARTOON: Petrol price is a really scary picture
MOTORISTS must now surely be dreading a trip to the filling station. The nation woke up this week to petrol pump pricing fast approaching record levels.
The inland price of 93 high octane is now R11.97, 93c more than they would have paid at 11.59pm the previous day. It was the biggest single increase in a month since the country became exposed to the vagaries of the open global market.
Yet the farther you drive inland, the steeper the price becomes at the pumps.
Many will recall that it was headline news when the price reached the R5 mark not more than a decade ago. That now seems like a make-believe story
Record price levels were witnessed earlier this year when motorists were asked to part with more than R12 a litre.
Sadly, though, the ripple effects of the combination of a plunge in the rand-dollar exchange rate, an increase in the price of crude oil and other factors are felt long after users leave the petrol station.
The price of food, especially staple commodities, increase and the vast majority of people in this country feel the sting more acutely.
The outlook seems even bleaker if recent trends are anything to go by. A leading economist says South Africans should brace themselves for the worst, with forecasts of a 20c price hike next month. Couple this with the daily reports of job losses and scarier picture emerges.
How much further can we tighten that murderously tight belt?
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