The great divide between the rich and the poor

It is then that my eye roamed to a section of the menu where the burgers are advertised and to my utter shock and dismay read that one of the fancier meals (is that what we call it these days?) cost almost R100.

I had to wonder who on earth can afford to pay R100 for burger and chips.

I can, after all, create three meals for the family out of such a lavish expense.

Really? Sure, you get three patties and who knows what else stacked on top of this offering, but you have to wonder if you will find a gold nugget hiding away beneath the drooping lettuce.

I also felt offended that this franchise has the audacity to charge R100 for a burger meal, but then it occurred to me, such a price can be demanded because there are clearly customers who pay.

A day or so later after being left gobsmacked at how anyone can pay such a hefty price for a burger (I mean, seriously, you can make that burger for R15 tops), I watched how a lonely vendor in a deserted part of Boksburg was trying to sell a couple of trinkets displayed on a wobbly wooden table.

If he was lucky he would probably make R20 profit out of his goods, which he would most likely spend on basic necessities just to survive another day.

I recount these two tales for a purpose – to illustrate the great, great divide when it comes to the poor and the rich in this country.

On the one hand, there are some who can afford to buy a R100 burger meal (or probably R200 for a steak), while the vast majority of South Africans have to resort to a life of begging or selling items of little worth just in the hope of filling their belly

Reality is that for the vast majority of citizens of this democracy, R100 will be a treasure of significant worth and importance, yet for others it is mere small change to be spent on a whim.

This great divide between the rich and the poor, exacerbated by the high unemployment rate, was of course one of the key issues that political parties punted before the municipal elections as an issue that demands urgent attention.

Yes, the elections are done and dusted, and yes it appears many voters did not even bother to vote (maybe because many feel that a victory in the municipal elections is like kissing your sister), but at the end of the day, after all the political power play, who really wants to lead this country?

All the political parties talked about tackling unemployment before August 3, but the reality is that 26 per cent of people in this country are still unemployed and resorting to crime because they have no other choice.

Then many who have some sort of job are hardly surviving due to the high cost of living.

And so we sit in a country where daily more and more people are landing on the streets.

So good luck to whoever wants to run this circus, because despite all the promises and all the propaganda, the great divide between the rich and the poor is becoming greater.

And, yes, service delivery is still shocking, crime is still rampant and investor confidence is still low.

Therefore good luck to those who want to steer this ship, which is currently looking like the Titanic with a few desperate souls trying to keep the invading water from sinking the vessel.

All I know is that there are people out there who can afford to pay the R100 for a lousy burger (and I don’t care how good it tastes) and pay cash for a R900 000 fancy car, while others are overjoyed when they get a free loaf of bread (just go and visit New Beginnings Care Centre in the mornings).

This great divide is at the moment destroying the tainted Rainbow Nation, and somehow, in the midst of all the corruption and political trickery, needs to be resolved quickly lest we all head deeper into the abyss of the murky and cold ocean of recession.