We’ve seen how strongly people have reacted to the proposed VAT increase in 2025. No wonder — people are losing jobs. Jobs are scarce. The price of everything is going up — electricity, rates and taxes, food, fuel, data. Energy costs alone are staggering.
In fact, the middle class in South Africa is under siege. It’s being bled dry.
And this isn’t just a general statement. I’ve seen it with my own eyes — I’ve got anecdotal evidence from all over. People who used to be doing well — solidly middle class, running small businesses or holding decent jobs — are now barely managing to make ends meet. Budgets are stretched thin. People are cutting back — not on luxuries, but on essentials.
Why? Because economic growth has stalled. And yet, everyone — from government to big corporations — keeps gouging the middle class. Just look at the basics: insurance, medical aid, electricity, data. Every year, the increases come — relentless, automatic. The big providers and service companies? They’re getting their annual hikes. And where does that money come from? You guessed it — the middle class is footing the bill.
It’s been like this for a few years now, and the cumulative effect is catastrophic. Go back just three years and compare the cost of living then to now — it’s shocking.
So, this blog post is just a snapshot of what the middle class in South Africa is going through in 2025. Of course, it varies by city — things in Cape Town might look a little different from Johannesburg. I can’t speak much for Durban — I don’t get much news from there — but usually, it’s not good either.
Here are a few figures that help put things in perspective:
• The middle class is caught in a paradox: there are some signs of economic improvement, like a slight uptick in consumer spending power and slightly lower inflation — but it’s not enough.
• The unemployment rate is projected to rise — from 32.7% in 2024 to 33.2% in 2025 — which tells you job creation simply isn’t keeping up with population and labor force growth.
• Inequality remains among the highest in the world, with a Gini coefficient of 0.67.
• Poverty is still crushingly high — estimated at 63% by the World Bank.
• Wage increases exist — but they’re not matching the rise in essential goods and services.
So yes — the headlines might talk of recovery, of cautious optimism — but on the ground, the middle class is still grappling with deep instability, rising costs, and the quiet panic of trying to stay afloat in a system that seems rigged against them.
