Butthead’s Beat: Huff, puff and blow me down
One really had to be a true 'penny-pincher' to queue for petrol on Tuesday night.
MOTORISTS who rushed to fill up before midnight on Tuesday would have saved themselves a whole 50 cents on a tank. Whoopee!
Maybe economists understand these things better, but to increase the price of petrol by a mere one cent per litre seems somewhat bizarre. Does anyone even remember what a one cent coin looks like?
Surely all the red tape involved in implementing this ‘massive’ increase would have cost far more than the actual increase?
With the exchange rate gone to pot again, there is bound to be a more substantial increase in the very near future… just in time to catch holiday people as usual. So why not wait until then when nobody would have noticed an extra cent anyway?
Talking of ‘pot’ (the liquid kind), what might be of more serious concern to the vast majority of ‘Suip Kusters’ is that they might soon have to spend more on petrol to drive out into remote areas to find a legal liquor store.
In a test case, a Durban High Court judge recently determined that all liquor licence holders had to comply with new provisions in the Liquor Act to address the effect of alcohol on communities and children.
This means that all liquor stores within 500m of ‘schools, places of worship, recreational facilities, rehabilitation centres, residential areas and public institutions’ need to close down or move within the next two years.
A quick mental survey of all of the above on the South Coast reveals that this doesn’t leave much room for many of our bottle stores to manoeuvre. (Churches might rejoice now, but give some thought to sourcing communion wine in the future!)
Of course, there are many other changes recommended in the new Act which are quite admirable, although they could also put a damper on the various post matric ‘Rage’ parties that are taking place as we speak, including in Margate. Soon, the sale of liquor to under 21s will be strictly ‘verboten’.
Just in case beleaguered smokers think the pressure’s off them for a change, Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi is all puffed up to nip them in the ‘butt’ as well. He wants to stop the sale and display of tobacco products at all till-points.
Ironically, that used to be the case with condoms back in the day. One had to wink at the cashier and, hopefully, ‘he’ understood. They were normally hidden away under the counter.
Now that one has no need for them, they are in your face with razor blades, sweets and chocolates. Life’s certainly becoming a rough ride.
DID YOU KNOW?
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