Fears for low-income families as fuel, power price hikes loom

According to Automobile Association (AA), petrol is set for a massive increase of 73 cents a litre, diesel an increase of 39 cents, and illuminating paraffin and an increase of 37 cents.

Eskom has also announced  that it will increase electricity tariffs by 15.63% on 1 April.

Debt Rescue has called on those families to seek debt counselling. 

"With regards to lower-income people in South Africa, they really have a hard time during these times because these petrol increases and electricity hikes might be small to some people, but it has a huge effect on lower-income people," says Roets. 

"So, what we do then is that we determine whether the best option would be debt counselling or even mediation or alternative dispute resolutions or whatever we need to make those people's lives easier." 

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With fuel and electricity price increase, Roets has called on consumers to draw up an effective budget. 

"Unfortunately, salaries will not be going up in line with those increases and making it difficult for people to absorb these price increases.

"We, as South Africans, are fortunate that we have a system called debt counselling in South Africa which is the perfect mechanism to help people during these difficult times to pay off their debts in an affordable manner without losing their assets," adds Roets. 

"So, people must just make sure that they budget correctly during these times and very consecutively if they still find themselves in a situation where they over-indebted, they should contact the debt counsellors as soon as possible."