PCFormat Forum Archive

So with a potential double price hike on the cards again (and who knows how many more after that before the obligatory nod of a price drop), I found this infographic somewhat interesting.

At Direct Axis we are very aware of the rising cost of living. We care about this deeply and we’d like to help you be smarter with your money and how you spend it. This infographic looks at the petrol price and compares what we pay with a number of other countries. The bad news is that a comparison of petrol prices in relation to daily wages finds that a litre of unleaded costs the average South African wage earner a striking 6.5% of their daily earnings. The good news is that there are a number of ways you can reduce your petrol consumption. Tips within the infographic suggest inflating tyres correctly, switching off aircon and curbing excessive engine idling.

Infographic

Yup the rands depreciation doesn't help much either. Also something to note is currently there are wage negotiations. Problem is the wage portion on fuel no longer needs to cover just the petrol attendants and fuel intake cashier. With stations becoming more diverse in having to have retail sections everything falls under the scope of MIBCO and that means staff that does not have anything to do with fuel needs to be covered in the new model.

The demands for workers are rediculous as it currently stands with overtime pay being demanded from 4pm the afternoon amoungst other things. Except an increase of around 20c minimum if retail falls under the margin bracket, 50c if some of these demands are met.

We should just pump our own petrol like they do in the States.

That would take a lot of blame off the attendants as not all consumers are honest about what they want in their vehicle. But as it stands the industry is employing 750k people meaning those jobs would be lost. What should perhaps be happening is the state should be asked what happens to that R5 they are getting from every liter of fuel being sold.

Delaying self-service at petrol stations is kind of futile, as I think it is inevitable. If our government wants to take a shot at being smart they will allow the industry to slowly phase in automation at service stations. As for the taxes and levies .... don't bother asking; Spend that effort harassing the DoC - just as an example.

I can just see the chaos at our petrol stations

The other thing to consider is our motorists are lazy. We've had some people trying to fill their own cars but by law it is illegal to do that as mentioned it takes away the job the appointed guy has. The sad thing of all of this is legally you as the owner of the car is responsible for anything that happens in the hands of the petrol attendant. As the motorist it is your responsibility to ensure your getting the correct fuel and correct amount ect.

I don't even know how to check my own oil anymore. I only open up my cars hood when its in for a service.

I have to say, it is a job that should fall away as it does not promote any human developement skills. Anyone can do it. But what will you do with all those lost jobs? And people these days are terrible either lacking common sense or simply not caring about their actions. Next time your at a station look for the people smoking next to flamable materials.

i don't think the question of what to do with all the lost jobs is that relevant.
1st reason: our idiot government does not have enough foresight, however if they mystically acquire some
2nd reason: it's something you can phase in through attrition.

whatever the case may be, eventually the oil is going to dry up anyway, so the industry will change;
sooner .......or .......later

I doubt it will dry up for they time they will be in power.