The two I's and the US: war drives South Africa's fuel crisis

Any significant diesel price increase will place severe additional pressure on farmers

- SANJITH HANNUMAN

SANTACO has stated the taxi industry has no choice but to raise fares when fuel prices rise. TUMI PAKKIES Independent Newspapers

(TUMI PAKKIES Independent Newspapers)

IRAN. Israel. The United States. Three countries fighting a war that has nothing to do with South Africa - and everything to do with what you pay for your groceries, your taxi fare, and the food on your table.

Pick up a head of cabbage in any supermarket and you are holding, without knowing it, the accumulated fuel cost of a journey that began weeks earlier on a farm somewhere in KwaZulu-Natal or the Free State. You paid for diesel at least seven times before you ever touched that vegetable. Most South Africans do not think about this. With April’s fuel price hike threatening to push petrol past R25 per litre and diesel above R26 per litre, it is time they did.

Picture a farmer in KwaZulu-Natal’s Kranskop preparing his land for planting. Before a single seed goes into the ground, the diesel meter is already running. His tractor burns fuel to plough the soil, again to disc it, again to plant, and again to apply fertiliser and pesticides. His irrigation pump runs on diesel or electricity - and Eskom’ tariff is increasing 8.7% from April 1, on the same day fuel prices spike. His combine harvester, when the time comes, can burn between 30 and 60 litres of diesel per hour (Joburg ETC, March 2026). A full harvesting day on a medium-sized farm could require 400 litres or more.