Download PDFAny form of increase in the daily needs of the working class is a major setback and a stumbling block to everyday survival especially if there is no increase in salaries. Currently, we are struck with fuel crises which are hugely influenced by the never-ending war in Russia.
This war has a highly negative impact on the amount of oil that could be refined to petrol in South Africa. As the availability of oil deteriorates, the price of it increases. This in turn has an impact on the transport sector because the oil refined to petrol becomes scarce or limited so the price of petrol increases as well. So basically when the fuel prices increase it means food price hikes are looming as well.
This crisis has a huge impact on working class communities because a known fact is that even if the food price increases the salaries and wages never increase in tandem. This leads to not being able to afford daily needs plunging many families into debt. The working class to overcomes this problem through the cut down process, under current political climate. Cutting down on necessities, cutting down on food and shift focus to the needs and discard the wants.
In an interview with one Mr Tsenolo Senosi who is a part of the working class, he says that he is highly affected. Senosi’s response was that it is difficult to try and survive when daily and monthly expenditure increase while the income stays the same. This means you have to dig deeper in your pockets, and you need to cut on certain basic foods and rather eat carbohydrate foods. This compromises nutrition. He went on to say the people that are affected the most are the lower class people because life becomes impossible for them.
This is what we face daily in South Africa when the food prices increase. Soon, life will be impossible we will need to go back to planting food gardens and growing crops for survival. This is not a bad thing as this can improve our health.
This article is an opinion piece submitted on 03 March 2023. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of Karibu! Online or Khanya College. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
