Editorial: The crisis is getting deeper and deeper

The crunching body blows to consumers keep getting harder and deeper, and there’s little evidence to suggest they’re going to end any time soon.

Motorists were this week hit with a hike in the fuel price to record levels.

Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of economics will tell you this will push up the price of food, public transport and pretty much everything else dependent on travel.

Keep in mind, the fuel price may spike again next month.

If you thought that was it, steady yourself – the possibility of an interest rate hike next month is increasingly real as consumer price inflation looks to breach the SA Reserve Bank’s 6% ceiling.

But wait, that’s not all.

The World Bank this week projected annual growth for the country to come in at, wait for it, a staggeringly paltry 0.7%.

It’s a vicious circle. Job losses mean less tax revenue.

Pressure on the fiscus leads to rising taxes to make up the shortfall, which means more job losses. This must end.

Although the country’s currency and purchasing power is at the mercy of international markets, government must act with directly measurable and decisive instruments available in its arsenal to create a fertile environment for growth.

Reconfiguring the taxes levied on fuel is one immediate step that can be taken – easing the price of fuel will filter through to the broader economy and to the poor, who are suffering the most.

The answer to the question of how to lift people out of poverty hasn’t changed – employment.

This week’s Jobs Summit and the agreement to hopefully create an additional 275 000 jobs a year is marvellous, but optimistic, talk. Implementation is crucial and time is running out.

We are all in this together.

All for one and one for all. Do your bit. Support local. Buy local. Develop local. Demand local.