What you could do with R50 in the 1960s

Partying up a storm, driving fast cars, going on romantic dates and still having money left at the end of the month.

To my 22-year-old self this seems like nothing more than a far fetched dream but while chatting to local councillors Ward 22 (Salt Rock) Cllr Malcolm Hubner and Ward 21 (Ballito) and Ward 4 (Shaka’s Head) Cllr Tommy Du Toit, I was surprised to learn that “back in the day” this was a reality.

The power of R1

Du Toit said all he needed to get by for the month was R30.

“I earned R50 a month and from that R50, I gave my mother a monthly board and lodge fee of R20. The R30 I had left was enough to party for the rest of the month,” said Du Toit.

Hubner told of his first job at Standard Bank where he physically counted money and earned a generous amount of R110 a month for his hard work. Needless to say, he faced difficult budgeting choices.

“I started work as a cashier at Standard Bank. We used to count notes every Thursday with our bare hands. I earned R100 a month but because I worked in Johannesburg and the cost of living was high, I received an additional R10. If you went to the shops with R50, you could buy your monthly groceries and you would still have money left over. For R1 you had a choice of buying five beers or five packets of cigarettes. They were 20 cents each. The choice was a difficult one to make,” said Hubner.

R2 for a hot date

From experience I know that going to the movies should cost about R70. This excludes the essentials, popcorn and a cool drink. Back in the 60s, I’ve been told that the drive-in was a popular spot for not only watching movies, but for getting up to no good and all this for a more than affordable price.

Du Toit said, “You could take your girl on a date for R2 without being classed as a cheap-skate and you would still have money for chips and cool drink.”

Fondly reminiscing on his work travels, Hubner added, “When we would travel for work, we used to get a spending allowance of R10 which was increased to R 30 after some time. Breakfast, dinner and accommodation would be paid for. So the R10 was if you went out and found a girl to join you for dinner or if you wanted to paint the town red. Boy did we party! We used to have braais almost every day and go out every night.

“Believe me when I say we never ran out of money.”

Dress like a diva

What shocked me most is that you could buy yourself a good car for about R2000.

Weighing in on the issue, my mother Jenny Singh said she could get an entire outfit for less than R50.

“We used to sew our own clothes to go out dancing at night. The material would cost about R1 for about three metres. Which is all you really needed. Shoes were about R2 and a purse was about 75 cents. We would have matching shoes, a dress, a purse and money to buy ourselves drinks and food. A guy who fancied you could buy you a drink for a rand. We always went out in groups with male cousins.

Your lipstick best be on at the end of the night or it meant that you kissed someone and that was trouble,” she said.

Reality check

In 2016 R50 could buy you two loaves of bread and a litre of milk.

I speak from experience when I say a second-hand, decent car, after much negotiation, could cost R80 000.

Dinner for two from a takeout, would cost around R200 while going to a fancy restaurant would cost about R1 000 including drinks.

Let’s not even think of my mother’s reaction if I were to hand her a R20 note for board and lodging. Oh, and lipstick is long-lasting and kiss resistant these days.

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