Make caring the Christmas gift

The ancient, fatalistic, statement “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die” is certainly going to be applicable to many South Africans in this supposedly festive month of December, in which there is nothing much to celebrate from a financial point of view. This is a country whose people are well known for living in the moment, hedonistically not caring about the future. With our known penchant for over-indulgence, too, there could be a lot of attempted drowning of sorrows this month.

We say attempted because it is going to be difficult to escape from our current harsh financial realities.

Today, our fuel prices breach the R20 per litre mark for the first time in our history, as our steadily declining currency prevents us from reaping the benefits of a stable international oil price… and as our government continues to levy some of the highest fuel taxes on the planet.

Our unemployment rate has just hit a record high and a staggering 660 000 people lost their jobs in the third quarter of this year. On top of that, those who do have jobs and are borrowing merely to stay afloat will find themselves further squeezed by higher interest rates.

And the biggest Grinch threatening to steal Christmas is the new omicron Covid variant, which is supercharging infection rates across the country.

This, then, is perhaps a time to reevaluate how we have traditionally marked the end of the year. In many cases, the original, religious roots of our celebrations have been ignored. Instead of giving genuine thanks, we just get plastered.

Our gifts to others sometimes have little real heart behind them. We need to temper our partying, appreciate those closest to us and try to help those less fortunate than ourselves.

We are only on this earth for a short while. So make it count.