R399 for What? How Everyday Life in South Africa is Becoming a Rip-Off

How the South African Economy is Failing Its People (and Why That R399 “Sale” is a Scam)

I walked into American Swiss recently, not to buy jewellery, but just to get a box for a personal project. Simple request, right? But no! The manager informed me they don’t sell the boxes. So I figured, fine, I’ll buy a necklace. Mother’s Day is coming up anyway, so I asked, “How much is the ‘Mama’ necklace in the window?” I was told it was gold-plated and on sale for R399. Not solid gold. Not even silver. Just gold-plated.

Something didn’t sit right. As I walked out, I turned to my husband and said, “This is a scam. I swear I saw the same necklace on Temu.” I couldn’t wait to get home and check, and lo and behold, there it was: the exact same necklace. On Temu, it ranged between R21 and R45, depending on the supplier. Yes, the exact same one I just paid R399 for at a “discounted” South African retail price.

And that, friends, is the perfect summary of what it feels like to live in South Africa right

now.

Retailers are milking the working class

The cost of living in South Africa has become unbearable. While inflation keeps climbing, salaries remain stagnant. And to make it worse, retailers know people are desperate and they exploit it. They slap on huge markups, add a red “SALE” tag, and expect us to feel grateful that we’re paying 10x more than what the product is actually worth.

That necklace wasn’t a luxury purchase. It was an emotional one, something sweet for Mother’s Day. But instead of feeling special, I walked out feeling conned.

And unfortunately, it’s not just jewellery. Clothes, food, electricity, school fees – everything is overpriced, and the everyday South African is drowning.

The VAT increase is a slap in the face

Now government wants to increase VAT again? Are we not suffering enough?

Increasing VAT doesn’t hurt the wealthy. It doesn’t even scratch them. But for the working class, it’s devastating. VAT is a flat tax it hits everyone the same, whether you earn R5,000 or R50,000 a month. It means groceries, toiletries, school supplies all the basics are going to get more expensive. Again.

Instead of taxing the rich or tackling corruption head-on, government continues to squeeze the very people who are already barely hanging on. They talk about “boosting the economy” but all they’re doing is emptying our pockets.

Now they want to stop us from buying cheaper

And here’s the kicker: after pricing us out of our own country, they now want to make it harder to import affordable alternatives.

There’s talk of increased customs and duties on platforms like Temu and Shein, trying to “encourage local purchasing.” But let’s be honest local isn’t accessible. If local brands offered fair pricing, maybe this conversation wouldn’t even be necessary. But they don’t. So we turn to global platforms that give us what we need at a price we can afford.

Instead of addressing the real issue like our broken supply chains, greedy retailers, poor governance. They want to cut us off from the few lifelines we have left.

We are not the problem

We’re not asking for much. We just want to be able to afford a simple gift, pay our bills, feed our families, and live with dignity.

We are not the problem the system is. The inflation, the taxes, the unchecked retail markups, the policies that protect profits over people that’s the real scam.

So yes, I bought the necklace. And yes, I could’ve bought it for a fraction of the price on Temu. But more than anything, that necklace is now a symbol. A reminder of how unfair, expensive, and exhausting it is to live in a system that keeps failing its people. —S.Hart, just echoing out loud