Soweto mom spends R2,000 a month just to get to work

By Palesa Matlala

• Personal assistant Brenda Moholi travels four hours every day between Protea Glen and Fourways.

• Half her salary goes to bond payments and nearly another half to taxi fare and her daughter’s needs.

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In part three of the Soweto Transport series, Brenda Moholi spends R2,000 of her salary on taxis. The system is failing, and it’s working people who pay the price.

Brenda Moholi, 34, wakes up at 4:30am to prepare her six-year-old daughter and herself for the day. By 6am, she’s already waiting for a taxi in Protea Glen, Soweto.

She takes one taxi to Johannesburg for R27, then another from Bree taxi rank to Fourways for R20. That’s R94 a day or R1,880 a month just to get to work.

“Last October, I picked up more shifts to make extra money. I work two Saturdays a month and budget R2,068 for transport alone,” she said.

Moholi works as a personal assistant and earns about R18,000 before deductions. Half of that goes to her bond, and the rest covers school fees, aftercare, groceries and travel costs.

“My salary comes and goes in a week. There’s nothing left for entertainment. I’m thinking of moving closer to work, but then my daughter’s costs would go up,” she said.

She said living in Soweto means cheaper groceries and transport, even if bond repayments are high.

In November 2024, her boss said she could work from home some days, but in January, he changed his mind. “I was so disappointed. I could have saved money,” said Moholi.

She even thought of cancelling her daughter’s aftercare, but has no choice. “School starts at 7:50am and ends at 1:30pm. I leave too early to fetch her.”

Like many others, Moholi is thinking of starting a side hustle to survive the rising cost of living. But it could come at the cost of spending less time with her child.

Missed the first parts of our Soweto Transport series? Catch up below:

Part One: Meet Lungile Mafu, who wakes up at 3:30am to take overcrowded, delayed trains just to keep his job.

Part Two: Lindiwe Ntuli has spent more than 20 years on the same Putco bus — and missed her children growing up because of it.

Coming Tuesday, 20 May — Part four of the Soweto Transport series: Nomthandazo Simalane chose Rea Vaya to save on transport costs. But now she rides in fear, watching bus drivers get gunned down while trying to do their jobs.

Pictured above: Taxis in town. 

Image source: Palesa Matlala