Russian self-made millionaire, Iman Gahzhi, took to Instagram last week claiming that Cape Town is too cheap for his R360 million pay check. The self-made digital marketing agency mogul explained in an Instagram reel posted a few days ago that his ‘aim’ is to spend 20% of his monthly earnings (equating to about R531 000) but in Cape Town, he just hasn’t been able to.
The 22-year-old self-made millionaire despairs the fact that he can’t even find a bottle of wine for over $100 in the Mother City. Oh, woe is us!
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In comments posted to the reel, locals are riled up by the self-made tycoon/high-school-drop-out’s bravado approach towards SA’s current cost of living. Commenters remark on the fact that most South Africans don’t make anywhere near $30k a month.
One local goes on to say:
“Your perspective on Cape Town is not the reality of it. Your perspective and this narrative is allowing people to overlook very serious issues.”
Is this the truth? Well, in an article published by Business Tech in June, the average monthly earning paid to South African employees is estimated at R23, 502. That’s 1.4% less than the average earning of 2021. To put that into perspective, that’s R477 000 less than the wealthy business Tycoon’s monthly earnings.
With food and living costs constantly on the rise and average monthly earnings lower in 2022, we’d do well with more business moguls willing to splash out 20% of their monthly earnings in the local economy; perhaps they would do a better job at finding Cape Town’s best wines, though.
Iman implies that Cape Town is a choice business destination for foreign businesses because of its ‘ultra low’ costs. If you’re on the outside looking in through the ever-shifting lens of foreign currency, this may be true. For South Africans in the thick of it though, it’s a steep climb upwards.
We all know the endless beauty and experience the Cape has to offer. Often, it doesn’t come with a price tag. Sometimes, it’s a gorgeous sunset shared with your closest friends at other times, it’s grabbing a bite to eat at one of CT’s many colourful foodie spots. We’ve got a lot to be grateful for here, wouldn’t you say?
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Feature Image: @imangadzhi/Instagram
