The beginning of this month had many a South African wondering if they were living in a perpetual state of April Foolery. Except, when the 2nd of April rolled around, they were still paying more for fuel, more for electricity, more on sin and sugar taxes, more for DStv and of course, more on car licence fees. 

No, this was no mere April Fools prank. We woke up to discover that we’ve just been mugged on all fronts and the nightmare is real.  

Let’s take a look at all the April increases.

You’d think we’d be getting used to this one by now, but this month hurts more than most. Thanks to the double-whammy hike in levies and a weaker rand, Gauteng motorists can now expect to pay around R1.34 more per litre for 93 Octane Petrol, R1.31 more for 95 Octane Petrol, R0.81 more for 0.05% Diesel and R0.63 more for Illuminating Paraffin. Coastal motorists will pay a few cents less.

Illuminating Paraffin isn’t subject to fuel levy increases yet, but don’t you worry – the government is actively working on fixing that.  

Energy regulator, Nersa, has granted Eskom the first of three consecutive annual tariff hikes. The first of these increases comes in at just over 9.4% - which is excluding the additional 4.4% previously granted to recover R7.8 billion through a Regulatory Clearing Account application. 

All in all, the April hike will see South Africans paying just a little under 14% more for electricity per month. This takes the average cost of electricity from R0.94 cents per kWh to R1.07 per kWh. 

On the upside, it’s suddenly become a lot more affordable to braai every day. 

MultiChoice has reportedly implemented its annual price hikes for DStv this month. The price of pretty much every package has gone up, with the notable exception of DStv Premium, which has had its price frozen.   

A MultiChoice spokesperson had the following to say.

And on that note, did you know that you could still save over R3000 a year by switching to Netflix instead? Just saying, MultiChoice, just saying.

The table below details all the DStv price changes for 2019, courtesy of BusinessTech.

The government knows that many among us won’t get through these trying times without alcohol. So they’ve hit us with increased excise duties on alcohol and tobacco to raise revenue for the national fiscus. 

So that they can throw it all away on paying a bloated cabinet bill, bailing out mismanaged parastatals and continuing to invest in the flawed e-toll fiasco.

According to the Treasury’s 2019 Budget Review, the adjustments will lead to an excise burden slightly above targeted levels. 

• A can of beer increases by 12 cents, bringing the excise duty up to R1.74 per can;

• A 750ml bottle of wine goes up by 22 cents, bringing the excise duty to R3.15;

• The duty on a bottle of whiskey goes up by R4.54, bringing it to a staggering R65.84;

• A typical cigar goes up to R7.80, with an increase of 64 cents;

• A pack of 20 cigarettes increase by R1.14, bringing the excise duty to 16.66.

The sugar tax will also increase to account for inflation, hiked up to 2.21 cents per gram of sugar that exceeds four grams per 100ml. 

On the plus side, there’s now a zero tax rating on sanitary pads and bread flour. So, we’re going to be just fine. 

As we recently reported, the Department of Transport has announced a 14% increase in the transaction fees to be paid to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), a mandatory fee that all local registering authorities – such as licencing centres – have to pay for each and every motorist it processes. 

And, of course, this fee is offloaded onto the applicant when it is added to the annual licence renewal fee. 

Here are the new fees for all major licences in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. 

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