Guest: Nomvelo Moima – Junior Economist, Bureau for Economic Research (BER)

South Africa’s Consumer Confidence Index has slipped further into the red at -13 for the third quarter, but it’s the middle class that’s really feeling the squeeze. Confidence among households earning between R5,000 and R20,000 a month has dropped sharply from -7 to -16, reflecting the mounting strain of high food inflation, weak job creation, shrinking two-pot retirement payouts, and rising living costs.

Nomvelo Moima unpacks why the middle class is bearing the brunt compared to low- and high-income earners, the paradox of pessimism despite easing interest rates and modest economic growth, and what these diverging confidence levels say about South Africa’s uneven recovery. Kaya FM