For small businesses already operating on tight margins, the increases extend beyond fuel purchases. They affect stock collection, supplier deliveries, staff transport and the cost of getting goods to customers.
At the same time, higher household transport expenses can constrain spending, creating a double squeeze for businesses that have limited scope to absorb additional costs or raise prices without losing customers.
“Fuel is not only a transport cost. In the township economy it travels through the entire value chain,” says Bulelani Balabala, CEO of Township Entrepreneurs Alliance (TEA).
“Every additional rand spent on moving stock or making a delivery is money that cannot go into stock, jobs, marketing or growth.”
Businesses particularly exposed include spaza shops, street food traders, caterers, bakeries, butcheries, fresh produce traders, delivery operators, e-hailing services, construction businesses and informal traders who travel to wholesalers to replenish stock.
These enterprises often rely on daily cash flow and have limited financial buffers to manage sudden increases in operating expenses.
One township business owner previously told TEA: “It is already affecting my business because the competition is tight already and with the price increase things are very hard.”
For businesses competing largely on price, passing on higher costs can risk losing customers, while absorbing them reduces margins and the funds available for stock, employment and expansion.
TEA advises small businesses to reassess their cost structures and cash flow in response to the increases. Measures include consolidating stock-buying trips, forming buying groups with nearby businesses and considering closer suppliers where commercially viable.
Businesses should also review delivery routes, minimum order values and delivery fees, while calculating the full cost of individual products and services, including supplier transport charges.
Weekly cash-flow forecasts and early discussions with suppliers can help owners identify potential shortfalls before they affect operations.
TEA is also calling for government intervention to help vulnerable enterprises manage rising logistics costs. Its proposals include targeted short-term relief for qualifying micro and small businesses, more accessible working-capital support and faster payments to small suppliers doing business with the state.
It also advocates stronger local procurement, investment in local logistics and market infrastructure, and shared buying systems that could reduce unnecessary travel and transport expenses.
For township and rural economies, the stakes extend beyond individual businesses. Small enterprises support local employment and household incomes, while keeping money circulating within communities.
The latest fuel increases therefore present both a cost-of-living challenge and a small-business sustainability concern. While tighter cost management may help businesses navigate the immediate pressure, TEA argues that resilience should be supported by measures that enable small enterprises to remain viable and continue contributing to local economic activity.
