If you pay close attention, then you’ll notice a slow shift in the mindsets of a certain group of people. I call them the “working indigent”.
Their financial security has been slowly eroding over the last few years. Slowly at first, and then very suddenly.
They still live better than the majority of South Africans, but their bank accounts no longer look as healthy as they used to.
I see them shyly loitering around the discount shelves at my local supermarket.
Not so long ago, there were only a handful of us openly looking for a bargain to help us feed our families.
I was raised on cheap food, so I have no shame when it comes to looking for ways to save a few pennies, while still ensuring the family has decent meals on the table every day.
Lately, that number has jumped almost weekly, to the point where I almost got into a scuffle with a few ladies who were after the chicken that was being marked down.
These are the waste products – usually items with expiry dates that are looming a day or two away.
I have been noticing more and more people rushing to buy these waste products from the big retailers. And from what I can tell anecdotally, the demographic is changing.
These are people who never used to worry about their shopping bills, but who are now having to scavenge for bargains, so they can make it through the month.
Those ladies in the fresh chicken aisle last week, made it very clear to me that they were desperate enough for a good deal, to set their decorum aside and have stern words with a stranger about waiting his turn, as they are first in line.
Such is the state of the working indigent that the thing that would normally have mortified them with embarrassment, they are now doing openly.
With the exception of the newly worried, they are unashamedly hunting for the markdowns.
And sadly, they compete with the staff for those bargains, because we forget that those cashiers and packers are often in an even worse financial state than we are.
But it really hit home for me last weekend, when I noticed a similar thing at my local Woolies, of all places.
There was a surprise queue at the checkout, and I saw that they were being directed to the staff till.
That’s when I cottoned on that they were staff members from other stores who had all come to this one for the waste specials.
It is known that even when it comes to waste, Woolies has the superior quality products, and at good markdowns.
But it’s a staff perk, so it’s not available to the general public.
This queue was unlike any I have ever seen in my store; all staff, and all with one goal in mind – to get food cheaply.
I first started noticing this phenomenon at my clinic and when I visited Groote Schuur Hospital.
I stay away long enough for the effect to be very noticeable by the time I return.
Again, the demographic started shifting slowly at first, and then very suddenly.
You start seeing it in the parking areas, where the types of vehicles have increased in price range over the past few years, making it very obvious that the new batch of the patients have had a change in fortunes, forcing them to make use of government facilities, something I suspect would have been anathema to them not so long ago.
I mention all of this, because I have read that one can usually tell the state of an economy by observing the spending-habits of the middle class, but I have never actually witnessed it for myself.
It should sound the alarm to government that urgent intervention is needed to stem the economic slide.
The painful price increases have been steady month after month; last week’s budget speech offered little by way of relief and we are in for another steep petrol price hike next week.
Salaries have remained roughly the same, which means we are all effectively a whole lot poorer that we were two years ago.
What I’m saying is that it is tough out there at the moment.
And while most of us don’t mind the occasional rough patch in our lives, this has been going on for too long and seems to be getting worse.
When you add ongoing load shedding and possible water restrictions into the mix, then the situation feels even more gloomy.
I just hope that people in government are also noticing these hardships creeping up on everyone and that they are determined to do something about it.
breinou@gmail.com