More than 500,000 households that rely on paraffin as a source of energy are set to bear the brunt of record high fuel increases announced on Tuesday.
This after the price of paraffin has more than doubled, rising by R11,67 per litre. This means that those who rely on paraffin will now have to spend R23,19 from R11,52.
The department of mineral and petroleum resources announced steep fuel price increases on Tuesday due to the war in the Middle East. But it also gave motorists and households some temporary relief by reducing the general fuel levy by R3 per litre.
As of Wednesday, a litre of petrol will cost motorists R3,06 more, while diesel will see a significantly higher hike of between R7,37 and R7,51 per litre.
But the increases will place the most pressure on households. According to Stats SA, in 2023 Gauteng had the highest users of paraffin at 5,1% of households.
Cosatu spokesperson Zanele Sabela said people still using paraffin as a source of energy in their households were the ones who most needed the relief.
“The fact that this relief doesn’t even talk about paraffin is a real problem, considering that someone who uses paraffin probably doesn’t have electricity,” she said.
“The people that need the relief the most are the ones that have been left out in the cold, especially now - it’s starting to get cold.
“They are low-earning people and at least about 40% of their wages would be going to transport. This economy is not geared towards poor people.
“Workers already drowning in debt, supporting up to seven relatives each and spending an average of 40% of their meagre wages on transport, will not manage such painful diesel and paraffin, and even petrol price hikes.”
Sabela, however, said the government’s R3 a litre fuel levy cut was a positive first step, but much more relief was urgently needed.
“Whilst appreciating this effort to cushion society from the international oil price spike, we fear that workers, society and the economy will simply not cope with a R3 a litre hike for petrol, and more worryingly, a devastating R7 a litre hike for diesel and R11 for paraffin,” she said.
Abahlali BaseMjondolo spokesperson Thapelo Mohapi said people who live in informal settlements will not be able to afford paraffin.
“We are approaching the winter season and there will be a high demand and people in informal settlements will not afford this,” he said.
“They still need to cook, and not forgetting that the majority of the people are unemployed and they cannot afford paraffin as we speak, it’s expensive. It’s a great concern, it’s a crisis for the poor. Remember, it’s double for them because they have to pay for public transport and then pay for paraffin.”
SA Federation of Trade Unions secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi said the high increase in paraffin was “another indication that [government officials] were listening to their immediate family friends and political surroundings”.
Zanele Ngobese, a resident aligned with Abahlali baseMjondolo, described the daily struggle of living with rising paraffin costs.
“It’s going to affect us a lot. A litre of paraffin only lasts two days or three days at most, and that’s if you don’t cook every day,” she said.
“Now that it’s school holidays, we have to wake up early in the morning to cook porridge because we can’t afford to buy bread every day. During the day we cook pap just to keep the children full.”
Ngobese, who has a family of five, said sometimes they are forced to use wood to cook meals.
“As a mother, you cannot sleep knowing that your children will wake up hungry. You must always think ahead: what will they eat, how will you cook, what will you use?”
Ngobese warned that the situation would worsen as winter approaches.
“Winter is coming, and things are only going to get worse. We will need more paraffin, more food, and we don’t have the money. There is nowhere we are safe, everything we rely on is becoming unaffordable.”
Sowetan
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