Fuel price and the art of belt tightening

POLOKWANE – The petrol price increased by 39 cents on Wednesday and consumers now have to tighten their belts even further to balance their monthly budgets.

With an expected hike in the price of red meat, there’s even more bad news on the cards.

Review asked locals where and how they cut costs.

Elsabé Wingerds said she and a few colleagues started a car pool to drive to work. “We make turns to pick each other up. Each one of us gets a week in which to pick up the others. This means there is only one week in the month when the petrol comes from your pocket,” she said.

Jerry Mathabatha said he was a farmer and had to travel long distances to deliver fruit. He said the cost of petrol forced him to reduce his deliveries to one trip a week. “This has an influence on my income, because I cannot deliver as often as I used to,” he said.

“Getting someone else to deliver my fruit will only cost me more and I don’t make enough to cover that expense.”

Rosina Hlahla said she had to buy less groceries every month, because she had to set more money aside for transport costs. This left her with no money for any luxuries like sweets for her children.

Frans Malobela is an instructor at a driving school in Polokwane and said the petrol price forced him to take on more customers.

He said he was paid per lesson and the increase in the petrol price meant that he made less money from every trip.

Johan Heyneke said he worked at a delivery company and saved money by riding his motorcycle to work. “Riding a motorcycle saves money, but it is more dangerous to drive than a car,” he said.

Henry Wills said there was no way for him to save money anymore. “When the petrol price goes up, the price of everything goes up,” he said.

“The problem in South Africa is that there is no support for the man on the street. All we have to do is pay.”

Andries Baloyi, who lives far from the city said there should be some kind of compensation by government for people who have to commute to towns or cities every day. “If the government want our votes, they must look after our needs,” he said.

Albert Moila is a pastor at a church outside Polokwane and said he saved money by combining work trips with personal shopping trips. “We need to be smart to survive in this economic environment,” he said.

Bernard Wentzel said the petrol price prevented him from visiting family who live in Gauteng as often as he wanted.

Danie Janse van Rensburg owns a butchery in the city and said the high petrol prices forced him to rething his delivery policy.

He said his customers had to buy a certain amount of meat before he could deliver.

The petrol price influenced the prices of the meat he sells and customers’ buying habits.

“People are forced to make cut-backs and one of the first things they reduce is their meat consumption,” he explained.