SA’s Struggling Economy Forces Citizens to Ditch Medical Aid, Gym and Other "Luxuries" to Make Ends Meet

• The tough economic times in South Africa have forced consumers to ditch policies and contracts to cut costs
• From luxuries like gym memberships to precautionary policies like medical aid, consumers are making tough decisions to make ends meet
• Research organisation PMBEJD found that the average cost of a food basket has increased by over 10% over the last year

JOHANNESBURG - South Africans are taking serious cost-cutting measures to make ends meet in these tough economic times.

A survey from research company InfoQuest revealed that citizens are ditching luxuries like DStv subscriptions and gym memberships and essentials like medical aid and funeral policies.

Survey reveals policies and contracts SA consumers are ditching to cut costs

The survey was conducted in May and asked 300 nationally representative consumers what policies or contracts they cancelled to decrease their expenses.

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The survey also found that 10% of respondents cancelled their household contents insurance and 9% let go of their funeral policies and medical aid, TimesLIVE reported.

Cost of essential groceries increase by 10%

Paychecks aren't extending as far as they used to, with FNB estimating that middle-income South Africans spend almost 80% of their salary in five days, according to PE Express.

Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity (PMBEJD), which tracks food prices in Johannesburg, Pietermaritzburg, Durban, Cape Town and Springbok, found that the average household food basket increased by 10.6% over the last year.

The organisation's Household Affordability Index report revealed that the cost of staple groceries increased from R4 966,93 to R5 023,95.

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In another story, Briefly News reported that new data from Capitec has confirmed what South Africans have been feeling for a while: citizens are getting poorer.

Capitec provides banking services to 20.1 million clients, over a third of the South African population. The bank says its clients became poorer in the financial year that ended in February.

This comes as South African income levels battle to keep up with rising inflation, News24 reported.

Source: Briefly News