“Some Don’t Earn That Much”: SA Woman Breaks Down 5 Digit Monthly Cost of Raising a High Schooler

• A Cape Town woman itemised the monthly cost of raising a high school child in South Africa, and the figure runs well into five digits
• Heather O’Shea runs a platform that helps divorced mothers fight maintenance battles, and her numbers were built from a real client’s case
• South African law gives courts the power to garnish salaries and restrict travel for parents who refuse to pay what their children are owed

A Cape Town woman has put a number on the actual monthly child maintenance that fathers need to pay each month.

Heather O’Shea, the woman behind the Divorce Recovery platform, posted a TikTok clip on 28 February 2025. She broke down exactly what it costs to raise a child who has just started high school in Mzansi. The numbers came from calculations that were made for one of her clients.

According to O’Shea, the monthly figure of R17,100 is not an exaggeration. It is, if anything, modest. She left out the Wi-Fi cost. She said that the list only covered the basics.

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What goes into R17,100 every month

O’Shea broke the number down. A child’s portion of rent sat at R1,800 per month. Groceries came in at R3,500. Water and electricity add another R1,500 per month. School lunches cost R2,000 a month, and that is before school fees of R2,800 are added on top. Uniforms, now that the child has moved to a new school, cost R400 a month when the annual expense is divided across twelve months. Clothing adds R550. Medical aid contributes R1,200.

Stationery, sports equipment, extramurals, and away games account for another R1,050 combined. Fuel for getting the child to and from activities costs R1,000. Pocket money, haircuts, and entertainment round things out at R1,300 in total.

Children don’t come cheap

Financial services company Momentum has calculated that getting a child through high school alone can cost close to R1 million over those five years. Old Mutual put the total cost of raising a child through the public school system at over R650,000.

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Watch the TikTok clip below:

Mzansi reacts to the detailed list

Briefly News compiled a series of comments from the clip below.

@𝔖𝔲𝔰𝔞𝔫 𝔏𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔰 commented:

“Then there are fathers who still think paying R1,000 per month is more than enough. And the mother only wants more for her own luxury.😔”

@user5552139936122 said:

“I am a dad growing two high school girls. R15,000 in Jan 2026. R12,000 in Feb. There is still some clothing needed. Some sport items are not yet paid. No maid in my house. It is costing R19,000 to keep them alive.”

@RockoRoss wrote:

“Some people don't even earn that salary a month. How does a man pay for that if he is not working? Jail is cheaper than maintenance.”

@2711 ❌️ noted:

“That's R8,550 per parent in other words.”

More articles about child maintenance

• Dr Celiwe Ndaba shared a personal post, explaining that her desire to provide for her children was her main motivation for joining two networking businesses.
• The Western Cape High Court overturned a previous maintenance ruling, which ordered a father to pay maintenance beyond his affordability.
• A South African woman who is getting divorced said her husband refuses to pay maintenance despite earning a lot.

Source: Briefly News