THE South African petrol price goes up 13c per litre from next Wednesday, June 5. Diesel will go up 5c and paraffin 4c. The Central Energy Fund, which announced the increase today, blamed the deterioration of the rand against the dollar for the price increase, which has been widely expected for several weeks. The Consumer Council's director Ina Wilken was quick to condemn the increase, saying that it would undoubtedly increase inflation and the consumer price index.
Police attribute the improved Johannesburg figures to the success of the city's anti-hijack squad.
The downside, it seems, is that hijackers have merely shifted base from Johannesburg, since figures for truck hijackings around the country this quarter have more than doubled from 259 last year to 607. Part of the DP's heartland area of Constantia went to the National Party, as did Wynberg, Claremont and Kenilworth. The ANC took another DP stronghold, Hout Bay. It appears that white voters have abandoned the DP and gathered around the National Party. While the National Party easily swept the rural areas with 59 percent, the ANC improved its position substantially, from nine percent of the vote last time to 32 percent.