After three decades of a regime hell-bent on smashing capitalism through radical economic looterism, it is chilling to witness the new Big Five in action.
These are the administered prices that have grown so bloated they threaten to topple the entire system. Due to the collapse and subsequent refunding of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), combined with the plundering, looting, and theft of local government resources, municipalities have jacked up rates beyond belief. They’ve had to as people flee from crumbling provinces desperate for work. Municipalities bear the full brunt of this mass overcrowding.
The new Big Five: electricity, water, property rates, sanitation, and fuel levies.
Welcome to this country. If you are a visitor from the United States, Europe, or the East, you likely won’t experience these directly—you’re on holiday, for goodness’ sake. But for those living here, these costs hit every month, and in the case of fuel, every single day. This is the legacy of thirty years under a regime that promised a “better life for all” while focusing its energy on smashing the foundations of the economy.
Economic Reality: South Africa’s administered prices—those determined by the state—have consistently outpaced the Consumer Price Index (CPI). While the general inflation target is 3–6%, electricity and water tariffs in major metros have been forced to frequent double-digit annual hikes, systematically stripping the middle and working classes of their purchasing power.
During this thirty-year rule, life has worsened for the majority. Municipalities are burdened with providing social services, funded not just by plundered state coffers, but by the dwindling pockets of ratepayers. This is the root of the chaos in Johannesburg and beyond. Even in Cape Town—which fares better—the authorities are scratching for money, the system is full of holes, and nothing is truly fixed.
The “new suits” in politics live the high life and make wild statements, but the ordinary person on the ground pays the tab. These Big Five costs have skyrocketed so aggressively that discretionary income has vanished. People can no longer afford the basics: groceries, the plumber, the electrician, the carpenter, or domestic help. Even for those earning the new minimum entry-level salary at Standard Bank—roughly R21,000 per month—the math doesn’t work once you factor in the cost of medical aid.
The Entrepreneurial Flip and the Reality of the Hustle
If you want to flip the narrative, you could say that everyone is now in it for themselves. If someone finds a way to make money in this economy, then good luck to them; they need to make hay while the sun shines. You see it in the estate agents raking in big bucks in commissions from foreigners, or those securing “plum” jobs in sectors where the social-capitalist regime has ensured high entry-level wages.
Yet, this entrepreneurial spirit is often born of pure desperation. In the townships, small independent operators—the grocery retailers, tavern owners, and taxi drivers—are fighting to survive a brutal environment. While some are “making money hand over fist,” they are the exception. For the majority, the township economy is a landscape of razor-thin margins and crushing competition.
I recently spoke to a man living this reality. He is struggling; his wife is unemployed, and they have a small child. When we discussed income, the barriers were clear. She tried selling Tupperware, but the market was saturated. She tried selling perfume, but an R80 bottle was deemed too expensive; people looked at the small vial and saw too little value for their money.
In Tembisa, I have seen it with my own eyes: rows of street vendors with identical stalls, stretching down the main road, all selling the same goods with almost no differentiation. No criticism intended. It is a hard, repetitive life. This is why the President and other politicians should live in today’s townships for a month.
Some might argue that they were brought up in a township, but the townships of the past were tame compared to the volatile, overcrowded, and service-starved environments that exist today. If the elite had to experience the “Other Big Five” from a modern-day shack, they would come out as changed people.
Despite what is happening because of the “Other Big Five”—dragging the economy down and causing untold suffering—South Africa remains a country of chirpy, outward-going, and friendly people. They are a population that doggedly makes a plan, getting to work every day to ensure there is bread on the table for their families. Whatever government or ruling party is in power, it is this resilient spirit that keeps the heart of the country beating.
