That ‘’Janu-worry’’ has entered the national lexicon is an indication that the household affordability crisis is no longer solely a working-class issue. More households are struggling to make ends meet and this struggle is getting harder. The January 2020 Household Affordability Index shows dramatic spikes in food prices. Month-on-month the cost of the…
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December has seen dramatic spikes in food prices with prices increasing for most of the meats and vegetables in the household food basket. It is expected that prices rise annually in December. These increases however are harder to absorb during this time because of the shorter working days and hours in this period. Workers have…
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We are close to marking one year since the introduction of the National Minimum Wage. The value at which the NMW is set will be reviewed. Workers work to support their families. Workers reasonably expect that their wages will cover the real costs of several core basic goods and services. To be productive…
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One of the most striking features of the August HAI is that of the influence of the recent taxi fare hikes and electricity increases for low-paid workers. In Pietermaritzburg taxi fares increased by ±7,7% and electricity by 13,07. In August the typical transport cost for a low-paid worker in Pietermaritzburg is R1 176 per month and…
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Calls for South Africans to save money in the current socio-economic context of very low baseline wages, high levels of unemployment and escalations in the cost of basic goods and services may be misguided. In our analysis this is because for most South Africans paid very low wages (1) savings are not generated from surplus…
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The introduction of new foods for zero-rating from April 2019 have not had any impact on the household affordability crisis. Read more…
Government approved a 13,8% increase on Eskom’s electricity tariffs. Eskom’s tariff hike will wipe out the recently announced R80 monthly old-age grant increase for pensioners Read more…
The budget has failed miserably to stimulate the economy at the township level. This budget continues the trajectory of massive and intractable levels of unemployment, low productivity, poor education and health outcomes, deepening poverty, increased social discontent and disintegration and low economic growth. This is a budget that continues to exclude the majority of South…
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Now that the National Minimum Wage Act has been passed and with the publication of the Regulations to the National Minimum Wage Act, which see exemption thresholds taking 10% off the hourly rate for workers; the wages of many of the most vulnerable workers will be set even lower than the current sectoral determinations. This…
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A R20 saving on VAT by zero-rating cake flour and sanitary pads is not enough to protect millions of South African households from a deepening food affordability crisis. In the face of the scale, depth and negative consequences of the food affordability crisis facing millions of South African households the measures proposed in the MTBPS…
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