Madam,

This is a letter to an African child trying to build both their lives and the family’s, it is deeply not your fault, you are doing just fine…

Please grant me space in your newspaper to speak for many who smile in public, but cry on payday. The ones caring black tax and the cost of living is now tightening it around our necks until we can barely breath. A rollercoaster.

Let me tell you something… many are times we have been told to reciprocate and give back to the community, truth is you cannot pour from an empty cup. Allow me to address this silent crisis crushing many emaSwati, a silent battle indeed. Behind the loving supportive African child lies the strain of trying to put everything together and be there for the family. It is done with love, but it is not light. When maize meal, bus fare and electricity all rise in one month, that duty becomes a yoke.

Black tax has no receipt. It is the E2 000 you send to your mother in the village before you even buy yourself bread. It is the phone calls in the middle of the month when you are also stranded.

It is the school shoes for your sister’s children, the funeral contribution every other month, the electricity tokens for a homestead you do not live in. We pay it because we love it, because we remember who sold goats to put us through Form V. Because Ubuntu raised us. However, love is not a budget, love does not make the money stretch.

Then,  where do we turn to? There are no opportunities in the country. Graduates sell airtime, skilled builders sit at bus ranks waiting for jobs. If your brother could find work, he would not need your E1 600. If your cousin could get a scholarship, she would not text you for registration fee.  Jobs are scarce, tenders are political  and the economy is not creating space for new hands. So one salary must act as government, as social welfare, as insurance and as pension fund.

The cost of living has not just tightened belts, it has tightened black tax, the same E1 000 that bought two weeks of groceries last year now lasts four days. Yet family needs do not shrink with inflammation. They grow.

If we keep ignoring this, we will raise a generation of workers who earn but do never advance, because they are being social grants in human form.  The rising cost of living is tightening the weight of ‘black tax’, leaving many working individuals struggling to meet growing financial expectations from extended families.

Black tax refers to the financial responsibility placed on employed individuals to support relatives, a practice common in many African families where those who work are expected to assist those who are not economically stable.

However, as prices of basic commodities and services continue to rise, the burden of this responsibility is becoming heavier and heavier for many breadwinners.

Working individuals are carrying the obligation of supporting parents, siblings and other relatives, while at the same time trying to manage their own household expenses. With the cost of food, electricity, water and other necessities increasing, balancing these responsibilities is becoming increasingly difficult.

The pressure is often intensified by the expectation that those who are employed must always be able to assist when family members face financial challenges. While the practice has long been viewed as part of a strong cultural support system, the current economic climate has exposed the strain it places on many individuals.

The growing cost of living means the same income must now stretch across more responsibilities, leaving some breadwinners financially strained because the income itself remains stagnant yet stretched beyond measures.

For many, the challenge lies in meeting family expectations while also trying to maintain stability within their own households.

As prices continue to climb, the burden of black tax is becoming more visible, highlighting the financial pressure faced by many working individuals who remain the backbone of extended family support systems.

Let me tell you something… many are times we have been told to reciprocate and give back to the community, truth is you cannot pour from an empty cup.