A man was eaten by a crocodile in the Komati River this week. Rob Rose and Zukile Majova used it as the perfect metaphor for what is happening to ordinary South Africans right now. Paraffin is now R34 a litre at the regulated price and R40 by the time it reaches a village spaza shop. It is the fuel of the poorest South Africans heading into winter and nobody in government seems to care. Rob and Zuks dig into the cost of living crisis that is eating through people’s pockets, the HSRC survey showing support for democracy has collapsed from 65% to 36% since the mid-2000s, why that collapse is pushing people toward strongman leaders like Jacob Zuma and Donald Trump, the NSFAS disaster and the deeply questionable new appointment to fix it, and the Chad Du Plessis award of the week which goes to Gwede Mantashe’s department for getting the fuel price calculation wrong by a rand. Sharp Sharp is a weekly podcast on South African politics, money and power from Currency News and Scrolla.Africa. New episode every week.
