By Selloane Ntshonyane
- Ronald Mosala travels daily from Pimville to Craighall Park and will now pay R302 a week on bus fares, up from R275, after Putco’s June increase.
- Mosala already absorbed a Putco fare increase in January and says he may stop giving his two school children pocket money to make the budget work.
Ronald Mosala has already paid more to get to work once this year. From 1 June he will pay more again.
Putco, the commuter bus service, is raising fares by 10% from the first of next month. The company says rising operational costs, especially fuel, have made the increase unavoidable. It says it delayed increases for as long as it could and that 10% is the lowest it could implement.
For Mosala, who travels daily from Pimville to Craighall Park, that means his weekly transport bill goes from R275 to about R302. Over a month, he is spending more than R1,200 just getting to work and back.
“It doesn’t make sense because prices increased in January as it is an every year thing for Putco,” he said.
The increase is already changing how he thinks about the rest of his budget. Food is the first thing to go.
“It will definitely affect how I buy food because I will have to cut on other things or buy less,” he said.
He supports two school-going children and currently gives them R15 pocket money each day. That may have to stop. He is considering packing lunch boxes instead, or relying on the school feeding scheme, so the food at home stretches further.
A private car is not an option. The bus is the only way he can afford to get to the job that pays for the bus.
“If transport prices keep increasing, it will feel like we are just working to travel to work,” he said.
Pictured above: Putco commuters face a 10% fare increase from 1 June, the second rise this year.
Image source:Supplied
