[imagesource:flickr]

While Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie gets to take home a sterling R62 million pay package for the year, everyone else dipping into their Capitec accounts is barely making ends meet.

And we’re not even talking about Tuesday, April 25, when Capitec clients opened their accounts on payday only to find a heart-and-gut-wrenching bank balance of R0,00.

Capitec gave no word on the supposed glitch but according to some customers, the app showed zero funds in their account despite their debit orders having successfully gone through, noted The South African.

Momentarily empty bank accounts aside, per News24, data from Capitec shows South Africans are getting poorer.

The lender, which provides banking services to roughly one-third of the South African population [the bank had 20.1 million active clients at the end of February], says its clients became poorer in the financial year to end-February as their income levels failed to keep up with inflation.

Compared to last year, Capitec clients are spending 8% more on groceries on average, and 16% more on fuel – a direct reflection of the cost of living crisis which has seen food and fuel prices go to extreme levels.

Interest rates were also hiked up, which made the value of the average loan debit order increase by 20%, and the average vehicle finance debit orders grow by 15%.

This came as central banks hiked rates aggressively globally in an effort to keep inflation under control, with the fallout from load shedding expected to help cut SA’s growth to almost zero in 2023.

The 2023 financial results statement reveals the impact that the “current deteriorating economic conditions are having on South Africans”:

Capitec: Consumer spend by debit order category:
Clients spent more on:
• Home loans +20%
• Vehicle financing +15%
• Loans +12%
• Communication +12%
• Debt collection +5%
• Investments +3%

And less on:
• Education -15%
• Insurance -1% pic.twitter.com/1XPcw9IOm4

— Karin Richards (@Richards_Karin) April 18, 2023

Despite barely being able to make ends meet, Capitec said the average increase in income into client accounts was just 4% this year while it went up 10% last year.

Time to send out those pay-raise emails.

[source:news24]