This month, we’re publishing features based on responses from our second annual State of Work Survey.
One of the key differences between this year’s iteration and last year, is the fact that the cost of living in South Africa has risen significantly.
It has meant that most, if not all, citizens have had to make some tough purchasing decisions as they continue to live month-to-month.
What we learned from Hypertext’s first State of Work Survey
When it comes to expenses, one of the questions we asked in both Surveys was what the biggest monthly expense was to remain employed. Last year, the clear “winner” was the cost to travel to and from work, at 34.4 percent among respondents.
As for this year, transport remains a significant cost, almost doubling among respondents at 64.9 percent.
That is a considerable increase, but does make sense given the meteoric rise in petrol price we have seen in South Africa as a result of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East involving the United States and Iran. This geopolitical tension and uncertainty has brought with it several changes, as unpredictable conditions have resulted in trips to petrol stations costing more and more.
This month, South Africans have a slight reprieve, with the petrol price going down by 52 cents per litre. While the decrease is welcome, it does not change the impact that the rest of 2026 has had in terms of commuting to and from work each day.
We therefore do not expect to see much change in terms of next year’s numbers, as transport costs will likely remain the biggest expense for workers in South Africa.
As for the other key expenses, connectivity ranked second at 21.6 percent. It is an essential element of working in most professions these days, and interestingly, this number is higher than data/airtime. It therefore points to the fact that most South Africans lean heavily on WiFi in order to connect to the internet, with the cost of data and airtime still being quite exorbitant in the country.
This outlook won’t change soon either, as local networks continue to adopt many practices that are anti-consumer. For example, the ICASA ruling on data bundle expiry has not been implemented as intended locally, which means purchasing data in South Africa is still onerous.
The other option in the Survey was electronics. It garnered 10.3 percent of responses. This is likely due to the fact that the question is phrased as monthly expenses and not annual ones, which may see this category rise in terms of importance.
As such, it looks like South African workers are happy to get by with whatever hardware sees them through the day and not invest in anything needless at the moment, especially as the RAMaggedon has pushed the price of electronics up in 2026, much like petrol has.
As we near the end of 2026, it will be interesting to see what happens during the festive season, and whether holiday commuting numbers are up or down from last year, depending on the petrol price.
WE’RE PUBLISHING A NUMBER OF FEATURES THIS MONTH BASED ON THE RESPONSES FROM OUR 2026 STATE OF WORK SURVEY. YOU CAN CHECK THEM OUT HERE.
[Image – Photo by Oscar Ramirez on Unsplash]
Source: https://htxt.co.za/2026/08/work-commute-still-sa-workers-biggest-expense/