The Congress of the South African Trade Union (Cosatu) has lashed out at government for failing to cushion the rising cost of living for many South Africans.
This as motorists will have to pay more at the pump from this Wednesday.
The Department of Minerals, Resources, and Energy has announced that the price of fuel will increase by 28 cents a litre for all grades of petrol, while diesel will increase by 9 cents per litre.
The department says the decision was informed by the higher oil prices in the global markets and the rand’s appreciation against the dollar.
Cosatu says consumers will be unable to meet their basic needs as the cost of electricity and petrol escalates.
“We, the Congress of South African Trade Union, is really concerned by the recent increase in the price of electricity, an increase in the price of fuel, and the decision by the [South African] Reserve Bank to increase the repo rate. This is really going to leave many workers and their families struggling.”
“We have many, many workers who are earning the national minimum wage, which means those workers will struggle to feed and clothe themselves and their families, workers and consumers and small and medium enterprises and the economy itself are still struggling to recover from COVID-19.”
The trade union says the increases will threaten the sustainability of thousands of SMEs and place many of the employees who work for those SMEs in danger.
Cosatu says it supports the ANC’s decision to call for a state of disaster.
