Editor’s Note: Some gamble while others tremble

Published May 28, 2022

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Must be nice to be able to blow R5 million on gambling, even if you regret it later, huh?

The rest of us plebs tremble at how we’re going to budget for the fuel price hikes to come into effect next week.

I know: use your wife’s bank cards to gamble because your own have been blocked for excessive gambling, lose the five mill, and then try to sue the casino for lost said five mill (see Page 3).

We are processing the fact that R100 will buy just four litres of fuel from Wednesday.

And this comes shortly after interest rates were hiked. A good thing if you have the luxury of saving, very bad if you are struggling to make your bond payments.

Of course, it is not just the cost of commuter transport that will be affected; the price of every single thing which requires fuel in its manufacture, processing or transport to the shelves will rise.

With the Russia-Ukraine conflict driving oil prices up, and little hope of respite in the immediate future, I urge employers to maintain the work-from-home culture introduced by Covid to help their workers save on transport costs. They are going to need all the help they can get.

And with the innards of our empty pockets hanging out of our pants, we can only beg all levels of government to reduce their expenditure and curb theft in its various forms.

The Independent on Saturday