Survive

You get paid. You cover the big things. And then somehow, before you even get to the third week, the money is gone. You are not sure where it went. You are not sure what to do differently. And next month, it happens again.

Huawei says AI could add R1.4-trillion and create 400,000 South African jobs, but poor internet access and skills could block the gains.

Diesel prices are now heading for an increase in August, not the cut motorists were promised weeks ago. Petrol's cut has also shrunk to almost nothing.

Patiswa Mboto started selling Russians around Philippi township to save R20 a week for a stokvel. Fourteen years later she is moving more than 200 chickens a month and earning over R8,000.

Abednico Ngwenya, 58, worked at a Spar for years to save for Mr Phiri's Pizza Hub in Kwathema, where he makes every pizza from scratch.

Your payslip is bigger than last year's. New data shows your money now buys less than it has in almost two years.

Coolpixie has spent 17 years making music and the last seven trying to survive in the mainstream industry. He says keeping his career going costs between R8,000 and R15,000 every month — and most of that goes to costs his audience never sees.

Prices rose at their fastest pace in two years in June. A day later, the Reserve Bank decided not to raise interest rates, but that decision mostly helps people with bonds and loans, not renters.

Young cook Sbongiseni Mashiane sells R25 hotdogs outside a Soweto school while building his own fast-food brand and supporting his family.

Daveyton snack seller Kevin Sibiya made about R1,500 last month while supporting his family through street sales and irregular fibre work.

Workers could pay up to R127 more each month after minibus taxi fares rose by an average of 11.5% in June.

Nkateko Mtsenga has a retail management degree and a postgraduate qualification in education, but no permanent job, so she now bakes for an income instead.