Entering the car economy

When riding around with friends with cars, I always had the job of paying the car guard. Because I always had a purse full or R2 coins, and for some reason that was completely beyond me, people driving cars never had change. I never understood why. It's true that I hoarded change, because it was useful on taxis….but that couldn't be all.

And in fact, I realized this week that it wasn't all, when I was pulling out of the parking lot, and had no change for the car guard. 

For the past month, I have been driving everywhere I go, even if it's to the park to go for a walk. As a result, I go to places which are car friendly, I stock up, and I pay with a credit card. I no longer walk by the Yeoville market and buy vegetables for dinner for R8. I don't pick things up from street vendors, where I used to do most of my shopping. I drive to Fruit n Veg and put R500 on my debit card. In fact, since getting a car, I haven't drawn cash at an ATM, which I used to do once a week. 

I have become suburban! We hold the hope that no condition is permanent….

Entering the cash economy

I live next door to a 6 year old boy. He's lovely, and good company. We hang out a lot. For the past couple months, it has been more than a lot - his mother has decided he's now old enough to stay home alone after school (he didn't like after care, which was at his former creche), which, in practice, meant he came over to my place for 3 hours every day till his mother got home from work. We would do all the expected after school things - make a snack, read stories, draw stuff, play games, and so on. Usually, it was fun.

All that changed last week - as 6 year old - mother negotiations work, he's managed to get an allowance of 3 Rand each day (about $.30). This is enough money to buy about 15 sweets from the spaza shop across the street. So he now shows up at my door with both hands full of sugar-filled wrappers, and begins his after school sweets bonanza. This generally well behaved, fun, sweet child transforms into an unbearable, bouncing off the walls, hysterical, not listening sugar monster in about 15 minutes. I send him home right away, and he proceeds to watch television for the whole afternoon.

It just highlights the urgency with which I want to get out of Joburg before my sweet innocent little baby transforms into an after school sugar monster (it's only a matter of time). 

Where to have a baby in Jozi

Okay. Last mommy blog post, and then we'll be back to the regularly scheduled programming. 

Genesis was amazing. If i have another baby, I'd like to do it in Johannebsurg just so I can go back. It's just a birthing centre, that various health professionals work out of; slightly different from hospitals. It was a fabulous place - the focus is on natural births (though they do emergency C-sections), you get a big, comfortable, private room, with a big bath, shower, chest of drawers, music, garden, etc. The food is good, the staff are *incredible*, and the experience is, all in all, unbeatable. Oh, and it is fully covered by medical aid, without payment upfront, or any paperwork.  And they have a full contingent of related services, from breastfeeding support to antenatal classes. I can't say enough good things about it. 

It's the only place I've ever had a baby, so I can't comment first hand on the places, but I do know people who've chosen other locations:

- Brenthurst and Park Lane. I'm lumping these two together, because they seem quite similar (though Park Lane has a 'stork's nest', which is handy). They're clinical. There's good quality care. C-section rates depends on individuals involved; no particular support or opposition to natural birth. You have to pay for a private room. It's generally functional, and not terribly unpleasant, but not an enjoyable environment. The bigger downside is that it seemed impossible to find any information about how much it would cost and what insurance would cover.  The paperwork headache seemed substantial and thankless.

- Joburg gen and helen joseph. Public hospitals. In general, these have gotten positive reviews from friends who had uncomplicated births and aren't looking for bells and whistles. In Johannesburg, service seems often as good or better in public hospitals than private ones, and c-section rates are actually quite low, since most births are attended to by midwives. Lack of capacity, in an area that's generally over-medicalised, has perks. If my insurance coverage weren't as good, I'd give it a try - I was more worried about the unknown than quality of care. I didn't want to have to learn how to negotiate a difficult system while in labour. Downsides reported is that they're a bit crowded, and you need to sort out all the extras yourself. 

New City

She is why I haven't been writing lately. But now that she has a whopping 15 weeks of experience on the planet, I can resurface. She has already shown me a dramatically new side of the city; Johannesburg as a mother! 

Moving weekend

Moving weekend is always a particularly fun time to sit on the balcony and watch the neighborhood go by....there are always amazing things being transported down the street, usually by hand. Sometimes, the stuff itself is entertaining (Saturday, there was a wardrobe that had been converted into a chicken cage). Sometimes, the transport feats are incredible (on Sunday, 6 couches in a row paraded by, on 6 men's heads. I wonder who needs 6 couches, and I wonder how hard it is to see with a couch on your head). Sometimes, the stories created in my head are the highlight (a particularly masculine man went by, carrying a humongous heart shaped glass plate, delicately etched in flowers. I tried to imagine where he lives, and how it will fit in). 

Conflict of interest in action

As most people living on the east side of Joburg know, there is a particular dip in Observatory Avenue, near the Bez Valley park, where it's rather difficult to keep to the speed limit. The hill is steep, there's not much but park on either side of the road, it's quite a distance to the next traffic light - it's an ideal spot to go zOOm, for drivers who are so inclined.

Of course, Joburg metro discovered this, and sets up camp there pretty much every day speed trapping. I don't know anybody with a car who hasn't gotten at least one fine there.  It was a particularly strategic place for the police to set up camp, because a bunch of undergrowth from the park came right out to the road, making it impossible to see them from either direction.

Today, city parks went on a pruning spree. The whole roadside has been cleared, up to the fence. A rather disgruntled crew of metro policy were gathered in a nearby parking lot, no doubt trying to decide what options were available. I wonder how traffic patterns will change....

Soap Oils

I've been talking about soap making enough that it finally gets a post. There are plenty of online tutorials for how to make cold process soap, so I'm not going to repeat the basic information. I will, however, localise it a bit. There don't seem to be too many artisanal cold process soap makers in this part of the world (or, they don't have much of an online presence - or, I just haven't come across them yet); this surprises me, given that you can find boereseep at so many padstaals across the country.

I already wrote about where to find lye in Joburg; I'd imagine in rural areas, finding pure caustic soda is somewhat easier.

Some discoveries I've made on oils:
Coconut oil is tricky to get. It really does improve the quality of soap dramatically, so if you're tempted to skimp on it because it's hard to find or expensive...think twice. The exception is if you want to render your own tallow, which makes a reasonable substitute (though an even better compliment). If I didn't live in a flat in Yeoville, I'd do this more often - but without a place to cook outside and a massive freezer, it's not really worth the work and mess. So, I buy coconut oil from Windrose. I like that you can order online conveniently, in a range of quantities; if anyone has other suppliers to recommend (or wants to split up super big bulk orders), shout.

Sunflower seed oil is also tricky. It's a very common cooking oil here, readily available, inexpensive - and not the best for soap making. It's very good if kept strictly at under 10% of your base oils; but any more than that, and the soap tends to be too soft (and rumour has it will spoil, though I've never had that happen before). The exception is if you're making detergent, or laundry soap; a useful thing with used sunflower seed oil.

Most other good base oils are readily available and not terribly expensive. Palm oil is everywhere and used for everything. Ditto with soybean and canola, though they tend to be heavily genetically modified. Olive oil's predictably expensive, but available in bulk without much hassle; getting pomace is harder in Joburg, but can be found by perusing joints that press their own oil in the Western Cape (if anyone knows of good pomace suppliers in Joburg, please let me know). There are lots of fabulous specialty oils, like marula, avocado, and macadamia, that I always try and look for when I'm in the right parts of the country; I'm always looking around for recommendations if people know of great sources! But these are generally best as super-fatting oils, rather than bases.

Used cooking oil is fabulous for making run of the mill soaps and detergents.  I can easily get used palm oil from local restaurants; I just strain it, add some fresh coconut, soybean, and canola oil to it for a laundry soap batch, and it works brilliantly.  You can make soap with bacon grease and there's no smell at all; used cooking oil's just fine. It doesn't make A grade soap, but is perfect for general household purposes.

Some discoveries on soap molds:
I'm still looking for someone to make me the perfect wooden soap mold :) In the meantime, however, there are lots of good options. 1 liter juice (or long life milk) cartons work great; they're just the right size. I haven't managed to find an ideal plastic ware size/ shape. There seem to be more people making melt and pour soap than cold process in Joburg, and as a result, getting those plastic or silicon fancy shaped soap molds is relatively easy; however, I don't like them much, and would rather use a shoe box.

Out My Window This Week

1. The neighbors. Now that the leaves have almost fallen off the trees, the views into the flats across the street are unobstructed. Happily, I have curtains. Unhappily, most of the neighbors do not. I suppose there ought to be some sort of urban camaraderie in the guy next door smoking in his boxers while I'm sitting out on the balcony having my morning coffee. I haven't found it yet. It's too cold to be eating breakfast outside anyway.

2. The Jesus Mobile. There has been a very large, bright blue combi driving around, with a life sized Jesus and megaphone on top, playing gospel music. I don't know where it comes from, but it goes by about twice a day.

3. The sun! I'm on the south side of the building, which means as winter comes, I get more direct sunlight.  First thing in the morning, it's fabulous!

4. The Rat saga continues. I'm quite happy to watch them dance in the gutters as I do the dishes, but apparently folks on the first floor have started getting them as visitors. Not so great. I wouldn't mind a good excuse to get a cat! We'll see.

5. Vuvuzelas. With the Pirates win last night, they're back with a vengeance. During the day, a block away, I feel content patriotism. All night, right under the window, is a different story. 

Re-loving The Troyeville

I'm now rediscovering Johannesburg - with a toddler! I figure the trial run won't hurt. A good friend of mine has an 18 month old boy, who is sweet, but active (and currently likes to throw anything that will hold still long enough; double points if it makes a loud noise). I'm now thinking of going out in new ways.

The Troyeville Hotel has been a favorite haunt of mine more or less since I've come to Joburg. The crowd is unpretentious, the food is reliable and good, and the place has something for every mood; you can take your grandmother there for a formal Sunday lunch, or your friends can take you out for a raucous party (with good beer). While I don't quite qualify as a regular (the true regulars are like permanent fixtures to their bar stools), I regularly bump into people I know and like. It's hard going wrong. But just how toddler friendly would it be?

As it turns out, more than I ever could have dreamt. It helps that it was a Monday night and we were there early, so it was very quiet. But one of the waiters picked up on the fact that my friend and I were trying to sneak in snatches of adult conversation in between chasing the bub from table to table, and whisked him off for a backstage tour of the kitchen. Baba managed to charm everyone so much that we didn't get nasty looks for leaving our paper table cloth in confetti around the balcony. We were kept well supplied with little plastic butter tubs to throw (which don't cause too much damage), and bub could do laps around the balcony as we ate. The pot plants were big enough to be an attraction, and too big to dump over/ spill out/ tear up. It was just the right level of stimulation to keep a toddler totally enthralled, and not overwhelmed.

Thank you Troyeville Hotel, yet another reason you're one of my favorite places to hang out in Joburg.

Reviewing Ramen

Braamfontein is trying to re-take center stage on the Johannesburg culinary scene; one of the new places that's sprung up is Ramen, in that little plaza between de Korte and Juta streets. They advertise free wifi, and I'm always on the hunt for hangouts with good food and wireless. They are few and far between in Joburg, and generally not the easiest to access via public transport. Melville seems to have a concentration of these joints (though often without the good food), but I'm convinced it's not necessary to schlep to the west side of town. I'm digressing.

So, it's possibly my own fault for expecting an authentic Japanese noodle shop....because authentic, it is not. The menu boasts of one noddle option, wraps, curries, and bunny chows. The drink options are limited to things that come out of cans (I was really geared up for a fresh juice. Or a ginger beer. I had to settle for Lipton's Peace Iced Tea in a can. Bleh).

The food was mediocre - made fresh to order, though it had too much sauce, clearly from a squeeze bottle, with no strong affiliation to Asian cuisine. The service was very friendly and quite efficient (yay!). Prices were good (R50 for lunch).

The clientelle was....interesting. Not quite what I expected. I spent about an hour and a half there, and of about 30 people who filtered through, I was the only woman (perhaps I was hyper aware of this, because I was working on a discussion paper on gender justice. But it was still odd - and true of the adjoining coffee shop, as well). Lots of businessmen, mostly middle age and in suits. I was also the only one working on a laptop. It definitely hasn't managed to cultivate the vibe of an inviting, hip place to spend some time and get some work done. I'll probably still be back, for the sheer convenience. But 44 Stanley still wins for a place I'd actually aim to spend time.

Lying Jackpot in Jozi

I have a slight obsession with making soap. But one dilemma that has tripped me up lately is where to get lye in Johannesburg. I've been through a range of options, but haven't been satisfied with any of them. Chemical companies will sell it, but you must go through a slightly obnoxious process of putting in a purchase order and waiting until they have stock, then collecting in random corners of City Deep, Krugersdorp, or Kempton Park. Large pharmaceutical suppliers are in the same boat, but generally charge twice as much. To make this even less convenient, you generally either have to pay a ridiculously large amount for small quantities, or get 50 or 100 kg bags (which I don't particularly want sitting around my flat. This is, after all, a dangerous chemical).

The one rocking soap shop I've found (which I actually love for many things) only sells cold process soap supplies in quite small quantities (it's great for additives, like Bentonite and Kaolin clay, and packaging ideas); 500g of lye won't even make a whole batch.

Builder's Warehouse used to stock lye, but quit several years ago. I thought I might have luck at plumbing stores, or industrial cleaning product stores, but have been met with blank stares, or directed to drain cleaners that have a bunch of other chemical stuff added. Part of it might be that I was asking for the wrong thing (sodium hydroxide, or lye, won't get you far. It goes by caustic soda).

Having just run out of lye again, and unhappy with my most recent supplier (a chemical supply company in City Deep, where I could get 10 kgs of lye in 1kg bottles for R80/kg). First, I don't particularly like their over-packaging (the bottles are a funny size, and I can't very well come up with any way of reusing them). Second, I think they're overpriced. Third, they're inconveniently located. Three strikes.

This morning, I was going to make another run through the yellow pages to see if I couldn't find a better supplier. I was getting keys cut at the Mica at Eastgate, and though I had asked there many times before and not found them able to either sell me sodium hydroxide or tell me where I could procure it, I swung by the plumbing section on a whim. In a dusty corner were 5kg buckets of pure caustic soda flakes, for R169. The manager assured me it was pure sodium hydroxide. Made by Resinate, based in Benoni. Packaged in a fabulously useful bucket.

I feel like I just won the lotto! Tomorrow I'm going to test with a big batch of soap!

Garbage Gutters

One of the top objections many people have to Yeoville is that it is dirty. The Dad fusses that it is 'unsightly', and the Yeovue News (when it was still around) used to bemoan the littering that took place. On one hand, it's hard to argue with facts. There is trash on the streets. When Pick-it-up doesn't make an appointment, there are piles of garbage on the street corners; and the day or two before garbage collection, the park usually looks pretty grotty.

The other day, The Dad made a comment about how it must be possible to fix it - he came up with a few technical suggestions, like placing big dumpsters on street corners. or distributing more bins. I objected, seeing the refuse problem as reflective of a broader issue of a too-high density area with lots of squatted buildings, all around poor service delivery, and high levels of poverty, all of which contribute in various ways to the garbage in the streets.

But more to the point, I'm curious about why this garbage doesn't particularly bother me, when other people have such a strong reaction to it. I see it more as a reminder of the work all of us need to do to make the world a better place than a problem to be fixed, as such. Coincidentally, I remember feeling similarly when landing in Mumbai 15 years ago...exchange students from all over were so upset by the garbage on the streets, which I just kind of filed away.

I see lots of reasons why cities need a good refuse disposal system - public health is important. But why are bags of garbage on the streets unsightly, when kids out of school a weekday aren't? Or racially segregated neighborhoods? Or all the cars coughing out pollution? Or the high walls and security systems in Houghton? Or the inability to see the stars because of all the light pollution? I'm not saying I love having garbage around; but I'm relatively confident that with a good development plan, management, and resourcing, that can be sorted out without too much trouble. I'm more upset about the high walls, which seem harder to solve, and on the whole, more damaging to public health...

Out my window this Friday

1. The candle light vigils (whatever they were for) have ended, and been replaced by bonfires, lit by the homeless people sleeping in the park. Winter is on its way, the nights are getting chilly. Homelessness is a problem; fire hazards are a problem, what to do?

2. Rooftop gym. 2 buildings up, an impromptu gym has been set up, and there have been people lifting weights every evening. Most of the equipment is improvised (paint cans filled with cement to make dumbbells), and most of the guys are buff enough that it doesn't look like they need much exercise....Still, it makes me wish we had a flat roof; like so many buildings around, it adds fabulous communal space to a building.

3. Sports week! One of the schools nearby (I'm not sure which one) took over the park next door for sports this week. They set up cones, obstacle courses, race tracks, and had the usual assortment of leapfrog, 3 legged races, and walking like a duck. It made the week noisier than most, but more entertaining.

4. Mynahs, mynahs everywhere. All the migratories have long gone; now we're down to the rough and tumble city birds that stick out the winter.

5. To let again; the occupation of the flat across the way only lasted for 2 days, now it's to let again. So much for my optimism about renting being easy...

Out my Window this week

Several blogs I read have some sort of Friday round-up....links they like, what they read this week, WTF Friday.....One of the things I love about living in Yeoville is being able to watch all the weird and wonderful (and terrible) things that happen out my window. So, here's my first weekly list. Next month, I'll add pictures! But the building is still sorting out our wireless connection, so for now you'll have to use your imagination.

1. The evangelical churches have set up a candle light vigil around the palm trees in the park. I have no idea what it is for, but there are candles burning on the ground all night. With the park currently full of litter and dry grass it's probably a fire hazard. But charming.

2. The Red Ants evicted a whole building just down Frances street. It was 8:00 at night and cold. Even though it was horrific, it became a bit of a street party; the evictees blocked off the road with bonfires, and lined the streets with couches and beds. Within a couple days, things had largely been cleared out, people must have made arrangements....Several buildings were hit last month, I wonder if that means investors are coming in?

3. The rat living in the drainpipe across the street had babies. It should probably make me go EW, but they're actually quite cute to watch scampering in and out of the storm drain. If they come too close, we may have to invest in a building cat.  But for now, we seem to have achieved a comfortable urban symbiosis.

4. The building facing my kitchen had a tenant move out on Monday. Tuesday, they put up a To Let sign. Wednesday, someone moved in. They haven't been there long enough for me to know anything about them (except their curtains are white), but it gives me hope that I may be able to let me place out quickly, should the need ever arise. That said, my rent would probably be triple what a family pays for the living room across the way.

5.  The Sunday Soccer Spectacle. Having decimated the north side of the lawn, the game has now moved right below my window. Blood was actually drawn last weekend about one of the referee's calls. 

The fieldwork begins...

Just when I'm getting so round I'm ripping the seams of maternity clothes, funding has come through to start fieldwork...so I'm now scrambling to see what I can possibly get under way in the next 5 weeks, so that in my dreams, by the time the baby arrives there will be fabulous, well trained researchers all over the shore diligently gathering data as I recover, and by August I'll just have to fill in a few gaps, follow up on a few interviews here and there, and analyse what's been found.

I also think this is probably impossible and insane to be attempting to set everything up in 4 sites in about as many weeks (with no preparation), and wonder what's going to end up being neglected in the process.  Whee!

Little Baby on the Prairie gone wrong

Blob has about 6 weeks to go before it gets a name, and I feel like I ought to be preparing. In that light, I found internet advice for how to make your own baby wipes. As experiments in the kitchen go, this seemed like a pretty tame one. Paper towels, soap, oil, voila! Sounded worlds easier than yoghurt, soap, and other domestic tricks I had to work a bit to figure out.

Well, now I have a big wad of wet, papery bleg in the kitchen, that reminds me vaguely of the gloop we used to make paper mache stuff with as kids. Oops. Maybe the paper towels I got weren't high enough quality (I don't really know what to look for in a paper towel)? All the online recipes seem more or less the same, so I can't imagine that's the problem....This may be one that's just easier to get at the shops; we'll see. 

Wrong about e-tolling

Yesterday, I had the good fortune of having dinner with a lovely woman named Jane, who happens to know as much as anybody out there about E-tolling. I'm still not exactly sure why toll roads happen to hit a nerve that other moves towards privatization don't, though she had some insight (it feels invasive. It's in-your-face. It's visible). But, I'm happier with it being a focal point at the moment for citizen mobilisation.

People need a victory. Civil society at the moment is disillusioned and disempowered. Successes, from whatever surprising corner they may come from, are important for building momentum in other spaces. Someone else at dinner pointed out that as soon as the month long postponement was agreed on, there was an immediate spill over into wage negotiations, with workers demanding higher increases. It's pretty cool if people really are feeling a sense of power coming from this.

It is about solidarity. If one person can't drive on the road because of the user fees, that's one person too many. Nice to hear the sentiment articulated. I'd rather it be applied to water, electricity, and education....but as others pointed out, when that was happening 10 years ago, the world was a different place, and if people weren't in a place to make it happen then, maybe they are now, and that's good.

It's not just about people being gatvol with middle class taxes....it's about people being gatvol with government getting things wrong; and that's good. Frustration about corruption, no transparency, circumvented decision making processes....that's all good for the country.

One step at a time. It does seem like frustration with crummy public transport would be a better target than frustration at road tolls....but that doesn't have an opportunity, a moment, and a target.  So there's not much space for a win there. On tolling, there is. And by the way it's looking, it really will be a victory. Unused gantries will sit along the road and remind everyone that they can keep government accountable.

How public are any south african schools?

Being the neurotic planner that I am, I'm thinking about schools for Blob. I was feeling quite smug about living in Yeoville, where there are bunches of spectacular schools in walking distance. After having lunch with someone at a conference who is providing me with all sorts of baby advice, the smugness has turned to trepidation.

Boy, was I naive. Coming from small town America, I assumed public = you don't have to pay. You register the kid at registration time, the kid shows up when classes start, and twice a year you get hit up for the costs of extra music lessons or sports trips. Ha! Says The Dad. Apparently, public in South Africa means the state pays some base subsidy of the teacher's salaries. But 'good' public schools pay their teachers much more, and school fees make up this difference. Gosh, what a spectacular way to entrench inequality from the youngest possible age.

I always assumed Blob'd go to a public school (more diverse, still good education, less snooty)...but now I'm wondering. I did a cursory comparison of a good public school (king edward) and a good private school (sacred heart) both within walking distance of home, and they appear to charge comparable fees (R30,000/ year. Are they NUTS?! How can that be normal?), and from a cursory glance, they don't seem to have tremendous differences in socioeconomic makeup - if anything, the private school seems slightly more progressive. What to do...?  Seems like all other parents just suck it up and pay - maybe I should too, but it gives me the moral heeby-jeebies.

Anyway, I'm irritated at the claim that a school is public when fees are higher than lots of peoples total incomes. I feel like a fabulous constitution is being cheated. And, South Africa spends a higher portion of its national budget on education than any other country in the world....how can it be so grossly mismanaged?

I think every public servant should have to send their children to public schools, and use public transport. I bet both would improve more quickly (any time I say this in public, people look at me like I've grown a third arm. Is it really such an odd suggestion? It seems like a no brainer....).

The toll roads of Johannesburg

Everyone in Gauteng is weighing in on e-tolling - at least, everyone who uses the highways. There appear to be two camps emerging. One who thinks that middle class South Africans are already over taxed and pay far too much for everything service related and this is just another way of raiding their wallets, and one who thinks people should cough up, that it's inevitable, and that there are more important things to scream and shout about.  Both, it seems, miss the point.

It's undeniable that in general, private car ownership levels (everywhere in the world, and South Africa particularly) should be much lower. Right now, instead of people paying for the cars they drive, people feel the affects of climate change, and that's a crummy system. I'm all for making cars (and various other manifestations of the petrochemical industrial complex) unaffordable for most people. But that's not what the tolling system does. Gauteng commuters aren't going to give up their cars because they have to pay to use the freeways. They're just going to grumble a bit. Everyone will insist it's because there isn't adequate public transport, but mostly people don't know what public transport there is. As The Dad says - no middle class South African takes public transport.

The new tolling system isn't going to change this. It's not going to create financing for transport (since, allegedly, most of the money involved is going to Austria). It's not going to do anything to combat the environmental and social damage that private cars cause. As far as I can tell, the real problems are:
- corruption (from lack of transparency to South Africa's wealth being shipped off to Europe)
- a development path that is increasingly privatized and exclusionary, moving the country closer to the military industrial complex and farther from social inclusion and environmental sustainability

But you find these two things in many, many moves by government these days. Why single out toll roads? We could just as well scream and shout about banking regulations, various government decisions around equating 'progressive realisation' with 'privatisation'; the list is long. The unions are being opportunistic my hitting on an issue that will get a rise out of a pretty wide swath of the middle class; but I'm afraid they're just making a point of flexing their muscles within the alliance, instead of actually working for meaningful change.

Personal finance in Joburg

Preparing not to work for the next 6 months has obviously required a fair amount of time getting my financial house in order. In doing this, I read personal finance blogs from time to time. Most of them are American (is that jut where bloggers are? Or where money is? Or some combination thereof?). It seems like most personal finance blogs have, somewhere in their archives, a guiding manifesto - 10 key points to follow, a list of easy ways to save, etc. Inevitably somewhere on these lists is 'make sure you never ever pay a penny in bank charges;' it always irks me, because it's undeniably good advice - and totally not an option in Jozi. I'm sure in the big picture, American banks are no less evil than South African banks....but they're certainly far more consumer friendly (and there are lots of friendly, local cooperative alternatives - Farmers and Merchants State Bank in Wayne, I love you!).  This is one of the few times I think the entitled view of a foreigner might be helpful ;)

Choosing a bank in Joburg seems like a choice between exploitative and evil.....One of my most frequent gripes is about bank charges (which, after groceries, utilities, transport and telecommunications is usually my highest monthly expense. It's considered normal to pay a fee to deposit money in your own account, which probably pays you no interest. Really. Free deposits are a perk your high monthly fee might cover). I find something fundamentally wrong with the fact that I pay a bank R80 a month for the privilege of using and investing my money - but the worst part is that I have no choice!

Apart from small scale, informal stockvels, there aren't formal cooperative savings banks. Nobody, it seems, apart from the big, nasty corporations, has access to the financial infrastructure of the country. I've heard analyses on why from various people who should know, and it always seems to boil down to a very unsatisfactory amalgamation of the highly regulated industry, history, barriers to entry, old boys club, tight connections with mining, neoliberal development paths, etc....all true, I'm sure, but that doesn't make it any less lousy, or any less fixable. Making financial services pro-poor seems like a no-brainer if  you're trying to boost equity.  As things are, banks are hugely exclusionary.  Before I got a grown-up job, I stuffed cash under my mattress; it was a better deal than a student bank account (though, completely impractical)! I don't quite understand why nobody else is outraged.

If The Dad and I open a joint bank account for tiny blob, maybe I'll try and disinvest, and just do all my banking from the  US...