As operations slowly get underway during the first few days of the new year, many farmers have said that the recent petrol and diesel price drop was not going to go a long way considering the other operational costs that they have to carry.
Livestock and crop farmer in Pretoria, Nompumelelo Dhlamini said the petrol decrease was not making any significant difference because when it increases, it’s a huge jump, but when it goes down, it’s minimal.
‘Makes no difference’
“For my operations, the petrol decrease does not make any difference, because I do house-to-house and establishment deliveries. I do this because I’m still marketing myself and for convenience to my market.
“For me, it is very important to get established first before charging delivery fees for my clients. So I spend at least R4 000 on petrol a month at this stage,” she said.
Diesel has dropped by around R1.2 cents per litre and petrol by around R1.6 cents per litre, bringing much joy to many consumers in Mzansi following the festive season.
Ostrich farmer in Brits in the North West, Kabelo Lekalakala said any sort of decrease was going to go a long way in making sure that farmers optimise the available funds to other needs in the operations.
Every drop counts
“Every bit of savings is much appreciated because then resources are channelled to something else to manage the survival of the operations, especially feeds,” he said.
KwaZulu-Natal crop farmer Andile Mkhize who uses less than R1 000 on his operations said the decrease was going to go a long way with his profit margins. He said he was hoping that in the year ahead there would be fewer petrol and diesel hikes.
Crop farmers in Northern Cape Geil Wilson said farmers were facing many challenges and the petrol drop was relieving the much-needed pressure on food producers who did not have a good 2023.
“We wish and hope that 2024 will be a fruitful year. Business was not as good as I planned in 2023. A lot of challenges pushed me but at least I am still on my feet. I wish all my fellow farmers a lot of success in the year 2024,” he said.
A move in the right direction
Meanwhile, Gavin Kelly chief executive officer of the Road Freight Association (RFA) said while this was not a plummet, it was a move in the right direction.
“The RFA is still concerned about the global factors that place pressure on petroleum-based fuels, as these are always in a seesaw/pendulum style of motion. At the moment, this seems to be pushing fuel prices southwards (down).
As for South Africa, the biggest effect we need to change is the value of the Rand versus the Dollar. More importantly, pressure on the economy will ease ensuring that interest rates should remain steady with possible easing towards the middle of 2024,” he said.
Kelly said for the road freight transporter, relief on guarantees for fuel, and some possible easing on prices will ensure better operating margins.
“All in all for everyone, this offers a chance for a breather while other important aspects of road freight transport can be attended to,” he said.
The load-shedding threat
Steve Sikwane, a livestock farmer in Thabazimbi, Limpopo, said he was hopeful that in the year 2024, farmers were not going to deal with high petrol prices.
“Remember with load shedding, some of the farmers use generators which consume a lot of petrol so the higher the petrol or diesel with loadshedding persisting, the more the farmer works for petrol.
“We use generators to keep lights on for our livestock because of stock theft. It is in such dark times that our animals, machines, crops and lives are most vulnerable, so the whole value chain is affected,” he said.
Sikwane said he was against storing diesel and petrol unless it was going to be used sooner than later,” We living in uncertain times, where veld fires just erupt from nowhere. Having tanks of petrol and diesel will not help but make matters worse. It is a good and cost containment measure but it has got its disadvantages,” he said.
ALSO READ: Cautious optimism as agri graduates look to secure jobs in 2024
Sign up for Mzansi Today: Your daily take on the news and happenings from the agriculture value chain.
