Be kind to those worse off than you are

For many South Africans, life has gone way beyond the cliched “belt-tightening” assessment so beloved of ivory tower academics or businesspeople. If the belt was made of leather, it’s probably been boiled by now and used for soup.

The May 2023 Household Affordability Index shows that a basket of basic food for a family of four now costs R5 071.59, far higher than the R4 473.92 minimum wage for a general worker.

ALSO READ: Basic food basket prices still increasing, hurting the poor

This means low-income consumers must cut even more nutritious food from their baskets as they battle to afford transport and electricity.

According to the monthly BankservAfrica Takehome Pay Index (BTPI), take-home pay, as well as the number of salaries paid in April, declined, compared to a year ago.

The average nominal take-home pay was R14 534 – a sizeable decline on the R15 170 recorded a year ago – while 123 000 fewer salaries were paid into bank accounts.

ALSO READ: Unjustified price increases for essential food worries Competition Commission

It looks like there are going to be a lot more hungry, angry people this winter … and that’s even before we really start feeling the pain of the self-inflicted injury, which is the ongoing devaluation of the rand against the dollar.

All we can say: be kind to those worse off than you are…