Claustrophobia is fear of a confined space. Amaxophobia is fear of being in or riding in a car.
I probably suffer from “microcarphobia” – the fear of small cars by people with a high body mass index (read “fatness”).
To accommodate my bulky frame, I drive a large sports utility vehicle with all the bells and whistles, and a powerful engine to boot. However, power comes with a price tag, as I am harshly reminded each time I fill up.
A few days ago, as the counter on the petrol bowser went up and up and finally stopped at R1 631 for 126 litres (a full tank of 150 litres in my gas-guzzler now costs almost R2 000), I harked back to the days when petrol hardly featured in the cost of living.
I have vivid memories of my first trip to Johannesburg in the late 60s. My father had a 1966 Opel Rekord which ran on the smell of an oil rag. The car cost R1 000 when just one year old – a princely sum on a deputy principal’s salary in those days.
Fuel for the return trip from Durban, including a week of running around between Johannesburg, Benoni and Pretoria, cost a measly R10 – less than the price of a loaf of bread today. In 1969 it cost just R4.40 to fill the tank.
In 1970, my parents, siblings and I motored the Garden Route and toured the Cape Peninsula for a whole fortnight before returning to Durban in the trusty Opel, which used only R30 petrol. Today it costs more than that for a cool drink and a packet of potato crisps on a Kulula flight.
To better understand the rise in the price of fuel, I spent some time plotting the increase over the past 45 years, and shudder to think how it could have been allowed to happen.
In 1970, petrol cost a mere 8 cents a litre. In 1980, it cost 47 cents; in 1990, 94 cents; in 2 000, R3.30 and in 2012, R11.62. Today a litre of unleaded petrol costs R12.93.
Leaving aside the ravages of inflation and the depreciation in the value of the rand, it means that while I must fork out R1 939.50 to fill my SUV today, in 1970 it would have cost only R12.
In the case of fuel, there are some easy-to-understand reasons for the steep escalation in price over the past four-and-half decades.
In the early 70s, there was the peaking of oil production in major industrial nations such as Germany, the US and Canada. In 1973, the oil crisis was caused by an OPEC oil export embargo by large Arab oil-producing states in retaliation for Western support of Israel. In 1990, oil became scarcer, pushing up prices even higher, because of the Gulf War.
It has thus come to pass that an enormous increase in the global demand for energy, especially from liquid fuels, and limits on the rate of fuel production, have created a bottleneck leading to high prices.
The fuel price hikes have had a knock-on effect on other commodity prices, especially food.
In 1970, a kilogram of A-grade lamb cost 70 cents. Today you must pay R125. The average price of a standard loaf of bread in 1970 was 25 cents. Today it is about R11.50. It is only when you can remember what things cost 20, 30 or 40 years ago that you can yearn to be transported to the “golden years”, despite the obvious backdrop of racist laws and political unrest.
A certain degree of inflation – a general rise in the price of goods and services over time – is acceptable. But it is also true that many small-priced items escaped inflation. There was a time when a box of safety matches cost just 1 cent. That price remained the same for 20 years. You could also get four pieces of Chappies chewing gum for 1 cent. Today both items cost 50 times more.
It is normal in an economy for inflation to creep in and each rand to begin buying fewer goods and services. It is when other factors begin causing prices to rise that I have a problem.
Take house prices, which have been largely affected by politics. In the days of the notorious Group Areas Act, land in areas demarcated for Indian occupation – such as La Mercy, Reservoir Hills, Verulam, Tongaat, Isipingo Hills, Umhlatu-zana Township and Clare Estate – was scarce, and hence property prices were artificially inflated.
A property in an Indian area cost up to four times more than if it was in a white suburb such as Durban North, Glenashley, La Lucia, Montclair, Amanzimtoti, Malvern, Hillary and Bellair.
However, when the cruel Group Areas Act was scrapped in the early 90s, many opportunistic and avaricious whites made a killing when they sold their houses to Indians for up to four times the previous market value. Hence homes in white group areas such as Queensburgh and Amanzimtoti, which would be sold to whites for R80 000 while residential segregation was in place, were being sold for at least R350 000 to Indians who craved to live in the better-maintained and serviced suburbs. Thus a new pricing structure was created based on the sudden demand by Indians.
In recent years, property prices have continued to increase astronomically. With an increasing number of blacks attaining middle and upper-class status, there is a growing demand for property, pushing up prices.
According to a leading bank which specialises in home loans, a house which cost R9 114 in 1966 sold for R24 596 in 1976, R70 078 in 1986, R178 486 in 1996, R812 028 in 2006, and is today worth R1 325 127.
The outlook for those wishing to purchase a house over the next 40 years is bleak. A house that is worth R1 412 209 today will cost R2 274 378 in 2020, R5 899 150 in 2030, R15 300 875 in 2040 and a whopping R39 686 528 in 2050.
For those who already own a freehold house, remember it is not an investment as you need to live in it. However, it saves you money. If you bought 20 years ago, you only paid off a R220 000 bond. Now you would be paying off a million. Remember, you are also living rent free. Keep the house you have. No point in moving to something a little better as this will only bring a bigger financial burden. In a few years, the kids will leave, and you can think about downsizing, and any extra cash can be invested for your retirement and holidays.
The average gross salary in South Africa is around R220 000 a year or R16 000 a month after tax. So first-time buyers are simply priced out of the market. Even with a net family monthly income of R25 000, a bank will only lend R900 000. Good luck finding a decent house for that price.
We need to have realistic expectations. Stop dreaming. Your chance of winning the Lotto jackpot is 1 in 14 million.
To be happy, you need to let go of your overly materialistic tendencies. Stop making shopping a recreational activity. This will give you time and energy for what is truly important in life – relationships, passionate work, service to others, personal challenges and knowledge.
What is going to matter to you on your deathbed? Looking back on your life, use that to prioritise.
Yogin Devan is a media consultant and social commentator at [email protected]