Happy Monday everyone, hope the weekend treated you well.
Monday, 25 May 2026
Young people are bailing on medical aid, and it’s going to cost the rest of us
This one’s been building for years but the numbers are finally catching up. Younger members are leaving medical aid schemes in big numbers, mostly because the premiums are punishing relative to what they actually use. The problem is that the whole system runs on cross-subsidisation, the young and healthy paying in to cover the older and sicker. When they walk out, premiums go up for everyone still in, which then pushes more people out. It’s a nasty spiral, and I don’t see how it fixes itself without some serious structural reform.
Durban’s xenophobic violence is still burning, and the buck-passing has already started
Scores of foreign nationals, including refugees and children, were chased from their homes in Durban over the weekend. The mayor is calling on the Home Affairs minister to sort it out, which isn’t entirely unreasonable, but we know how this plays out. People will be left in limbo for weeks. An MK veteran said the rage is misdirected and should be pointed at leaders who’ve failed ordinary South Africans, which is true, but that’s cold comfort for the families sleeping rough right now.
Is Gauteng actually dying? Not so fast
Everyone loves to talk about how Gauteng is emptying out as people race to the Western Cape. But a proper look at the data shows Gauteng is still attracting more people than it loses, because the economic opportunities here operate on a completely different level to anywhere else in the country. I’ve said this to people on my own street who keep dreaming about moving to Cape Town, the traffic is genuinely terrible here but the jobs are still here too. The semigration story is a media favourite, and it’s worth questioning it.
The ANC is apparently running out the clock on Phala Phala
The EFF is accusing the ANC of deliberately stalling the parliamentary impeachment committee, missing a deadline that had been set for proceedings against Ramaphosa. There are apparently internal ANC tensions making it messier. But here’s the thing, if you’re genuinely innocent you’d want this wrapped up quickly. The longer it drags, the worse it looks for everyone involved.
The medical aid story is the one hitting closest to home for a lot of people, so I want to ask: have you or someone you know dropped your medical aid recently, and if so, what did you do instead? Gap cover only? Savings plan? Nothing at all? Drop it in the comments, keen to hear how people are navigating this.
Have a good week out there.
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