The sky-high cost of living: SA’ns may be returning to office at the worst time

After almost two-and-a-half years of working from home, many South Africans may be returning to the office at the worst time.

With the cost of fuel and other essentials rocketing, going back to the office may become an expense few can afford, even if anyone is lucky enough to bank an inflation-related increase.

The daily commute, lunch, and a new outfit could set you back as much as R3 000 a month.

In 2019, just before lockdown, fuel was retailing at R15.84 for a litre of 95 octane fuel, with diesel clocking in at R14.03 at the pump.

Today, it will cost you almost 30% more to fill up with petrol at R21.96 and diesel R21.23.

The increase outperformed official inflation at 12.5%, added up since 2020. Living 10km from the office and driving a car that claims to deliver 100km to eight litres of fuel, would have cost you about R25 a day to get to and from work.

Today the daily commute dives a bit deeper into pockets at more than R35 for the same trip.

Multiply this over 21 average working days and heading back to your desk eats a R210-sized extra hole in your wallet every month – and over 251 working days in a year, the office sets you back R2 500-plus.

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And this excludes total cost of ownership which, with insurance, additional tyre-wear in streets of potholes, and even more frequent car washes could rack up costs even more.

Grabbing a coffee to sip during your commute, at around R25 on the cheaper end of the brew, and doing this three times a week will add R300 to your monthly budget for to-ing and fro-ing to work.

At home, it was easy to make a peanut butter sandwich or enjoy leftovers for lunch. But not everyone packs a lunch box to work and the likelihood of turning to fast food during office hours is likely.

A Big Mac meal with chips and a soft drink cost around R50 for a rounding number’s sake, while on the other end of the lunch chain a Kauai wrap could cost up to R95. For argument’s sake, an R50 daily lunch budget will see going back to work add another R1 050 to your office bill if you eat in or out daily.

Then try this for size. After mothballing office clobber for 24-four-plus months, it’s likely that your credit card or store charge card would have to sweat a little, too.

In a semi-formal office environment, a new shirt, chinos, or jeans can set you back close to R1 000.

For women, an affordable skirt at around R300 plus a blouse, stockings, and shoes add up the cost of a new, no-name office outfit to about R1 000 too.

For illustrative purposes, spending R3 000 on three new work-wear looks, and wearing each of these once a week, works out to an additional opportunity cost of R63 cost of ownership every month, per outfit.

So, it’s another R189 every month that replaces sweats, baggies, and slops privileges that working from home afforded.

With mom and dad likely both returning to work, childcare costs are back to chip away at whatever disposable income parents have left.

Aftercare at school can cost anything from R100 per day upwards, and an au-pair the same amount, but per hour.

That’s a minimum of R2 000 a month in aftercare. Add in an au-pair at R300 a day and it adds another R4 500 or so to monthly expenses.

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It all adds up. In a two-income household where the net income after tax and essentials lands at, say, R50 000, going back to work can cost – based on the calculations in this story – almost R3 000 per month, per partner, at minimum.

That’s a R6 000 chunk for a couple, or almost 12% forfeit of cash that you could have had if going back to the office was optional.

In a 253-day work-year, it ends up potentially costing a household about R285 daily to see the boss in living colour.