Johannesburg - The price of petrol will hit a new high at midnight, but this is only the start as Joburg residents will soon be faced with increases in their municipal services.
As from tomorrow, Gauteng motorists will fork out 5c more a litre for 93-octane and 7c for 95-octane petrol.
This will mean a litre of 95-octane fuel will now cost R14.39 while 93-octane will be R14.16.
The price of diesel with a sulphur content of 0.05 percent will be reduced by 8.8c/l and that with a sulphur content of 0.005 percent by 7.8c/l.
This marks the highest in the country’s history that motorists have had to pay for fuel.
And soon there will be other costs Joburg residents will have to budget for.
From July 1 they are likely to face increases of between 7.3 percent and over 10 percent in their municipal services, depending on how much water and electricity they consume and on the size of the property they occupy.
And there is more.
Electricity, both residential and prepaid, will increase by 7.36 percent.
Refuse removal goes up 6 percent for domestic customers and 8 percent for businesses and commercial customers.
Dawie Roodt, chief economist at Efficient Group, said just recently consumers were badly hit by petrol price hikes, which in turn had caused food price increases.
He said tonight’s fuel increase, on top of the other recent hikes, would add to the pressure on consumers.
But he said 7c was not going to have much of an impact compared to the previous petrol increases.
There is however good news.
The petrol price is expected to decrease between 10 and 20c next month.
“It’s a bit early to say when, but I expect the petrol price to fall next month,” said Roodt.
He attributed the recent petrol hikes to a weaker currency and the fact that the “economy is not growing fast”.
MC Lamprecht, chairman of the SA Petroleum Retailers Association, said the increase was obviously not as bad as in the previous two months.
“That increase was between 20 and 40c and much more significant than 7c. It’s a relief that it’s not 40c again,” he said.
He agreed that consumers were feeling the brunt as the petrol price had risen for the fourth month in a row. “Any further increase further depletes disposable income,” Lamprecht said. - The Star