So even the price of the Daily Voice went up this week.
As if us arme consumers needed any more bad news.
It was only a 10c increase - and it was an unavoidable knock-on effect due to the price of every other bladdy thing going up.
But add up all the cents and see how hard it’s hitting your pocket.
Times are tougher than ever. Every month in 2018 there’s something.
First there was the VAT increase of 1% in April, and that triggered an avalanche of price hikes across the board.
Then there was fuel, a 5% bus fare hike and water tariffs in quick succession.
It’s a flood of rising costs and if we don’t make a noise, we’re going to quietly drown in debt.
Take the fuel situation. Last month, the price of petrol hit an all-time high after an increase of a whopping 82c a litre.
Barely a month later and there’s been another hike of 26c.
UNACCEPTABLE: Petrol has gone up twice in as many months. Photo: SUPPILED
And we just have to sluk the fact we are now paying almost R16 a litre.
Or do we?
Well, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is not taking it lying down and has written to National Finance Minister, Nhlanhla Nene, and Energy Minister, Jeff Radebe, to call for General Fuel and Road Accident levies to be dropped.
The Automobile Association’s Layton Beard says neighbouring countries are paying less for fuel because they don’t have indirect taxes.
“So when you look at the R15.80 per litre we’re paying for unleaded 93 inland - R5.30 is going toward indirect taxes.”
Believe it. A third of the money we pay for petrol goes to the government.
In their letter to Nene and Radebe, the IFP said poor South Africans could not continue to suffer while government has raised VAT, rates and taxes “and now commuters wouldn’t be able to get to work nor are motorists able to fill up their tanks”.
The party has also written to Parliamentary Speaker Baleka Mbete to schedule an urgent debate, and Munier is right behind them.
While they’re at it, the IFP should also ask why it is that when the price of fuel goes up, the price of everything follows. But when the fuel price comes down, nothing changes.
Another reason to rek jou bek is the new water tariffs that kicked in this week, which include a delivery charge.
It’s complicated, and it’s determined by how much you use and the size of your property’s water connection.
The City of Cape Town has said it will only be an increase of 10.10%, but let’s see what the next bill looks like, OK?
The ANC, however, is not waiting for better days, and is threatening to take the City to court.
Local ANC leader Faiez Jacobs warns: “We reject the new tariff increases for households, whether it’s the 10.10% for those who consume less than 6kl a month or other consumption brackets as these are way above inflation.
“The conditions that warranted level 6 water punishment to consumers and these tariffs no longer exist and must be greatly eased.
“The ANC is going to challenge these unjustifiable increases in court and will galvanise all Capetonians to march to the city and demand fair tariffs.”
Good cause, but then Mr Jacobs, why not also protest against Sassa and the chaos over its new cards that left thousands of beneficiaries platsak this week?
Without money, mense won’t even be able to afford to pay for any water at all.
Then, the battle Munier is really rolling his sleeves up for - and this is South Africa’s biggest rip-off: medical aid.
Earlier this week, Bobby Brown was talking about government’s National Health Insurance (NHI) plan, which hopes to give all South Africans - rich and poor - access to quality healthcare.
Hier kom 'n ding!
* Munier will be away and will return on 10 August.