Social economic impact

Minister of Energy, Jeff Radebe, announced last weekend that as of 3 April, motorists on the coast will have to pay R1.26 more for 95 unleaded petrol, R1.29 for 93 Octane and 77 cents more for diesel.Meanwhile tax on a litre of petrol has increased by 29c for the year 2019 and the tax on a litre of diesel by 30c as announced by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni during his budget speech. Ths comes as South African struggles to balance its budget shortfall which will increase to R243 billion in 2019. Mboweni said the general fuel levy will increase by 15c per litre to R3.52 in April - government levies now represent almost 41% of the petrol price. Now today we ask, can a regular South African survive all these hikes? One has to take into consideration that we also have witnessed an increase of value added tax (VAT). On the other hand The National Energy Regulator of South Africa has approved electricity hikes of 9.41%, 8.1% and 5.2% for the next three financial years respectively, far below Eskom’s application for double-digit tariff increases.Now to introduce our guests I am joined in the studio by: • Anabel Bishop Economist Investec.• Terry Bell Economic, Labour and Political Analyst.