Cape Town — South African comedian, Alfred Adriaan, has sent a message to President Cyril Ramaphosa to listen to the pleas of every day South Africans and take action against the cost of living crisis.
Adriaan is a highly successful comedian who has gained a great following for his brilliant local comedy style, recently took to his social media and highlighted how many South Africans are struggling badly to make ends meet on a monthly basis.
Usually, Adriaan’s demeanour on his social media page is light-hearted and upbeat, often making jokes with his wife, Natalie. However, his latest video was a passionate rant about the struggles many South Africans face, and he used his own situation has an example.
“Dear Mr President, Mr Ramaphosa, with all the respect I can muster in my heart I need to tell you something. We are struggling. Every time, this time of the month, my wife and I, we have a discussion about what needs to be paid. Now, mind you, me and my wife have worked really hard not to have any credit card debt or short term loan debt. And we have no car debt. We paid those things off.” he said.
Adriaan continued by saying that he, as a working class person in a two-income household, still feels the financial burden of living in South Africa. He also highlighted some of the issues with government schools and hospitals.
“I should be doing fairly well, but I’m not. I’m not, because life has become so unbearably heavy and expensive. My child goes to a private school because the public schools in the area are just not up to scratch and I want him to have opportunities and options in life. I have a second child. He’s a baby of three-months-old. My wife buys things. She’s got a business where she sells clothing, second-hand clothing, for the lack of a better word. She likes to call it pre-loved things. So we get pre-loved prams. My wife goes out and buys second-hand stuff wherever she can,” he said.
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But despite them earning a “good salary”, at the end of each month he says he is “panic stricken”.
“I’m a working class South African struggling and worried about what would happen if I didn’t make an income? If I cracked an ankle, if I couldn’t work, God forbid, I was in hospital.”
“By the way, our biggest expense is on medical aid because we can’t go to government hospitals. Because the truth is, I’ve lost family members in there, who went in for one thing and died of something completely unrelated. Every day South Africans always say it tough right now, it’s tough right now. But we really need your help.”
He also pleaded for Ramaphosa to “come to the party” for people who are struggling.
“We need you to come to the party for us. We are struggling, man. Working class people. We are panicking because every month we barely go, we can barely make these bills. I have no debt. I’ve got a moderately sized house compared to my friend circle. I don’t know how my friends do it with bigger houses and bigger bonds.
Adriaan said that when the president makes his State of the Nation address or when national budgets are being decided, it must take into consideration how ordinary people are struggling.
“South Africans are having a terrible time and if we as the working class are struggling, what about the people that aren’t making any money? What’s going on there? I don’t know. Our expenses on food and petrol have gone through the roof. I don’t know if you really know what’s happening with us,” he said.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
