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The Faces Of Recession (23 June 2009)

Written by TVSA Team from the blog 3rd Degree on 22 Jun 2009
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Coming up on 3rd Degree:

Episode Title: The Faces of Recession
Broadcast date: 9 June 2009

As the recession tightens its grip, consumers are drowning in debt. Shops that hummed with customers a few years ago are battling to sell their goods. Factories are shutting their doors. Many companies have no choice but to lay off staff.

Faced with the mounting debts, families to care for, and rising food prices, many South Africans don’t know which way to turn.

On Tuesday 3rd Degree covers the tragic stories of ordinary people whose lives have been fractured by the financial meltdown.

In Weltevreden Park, Johannesburg, a pregnant sales consultant went to work on a Monday morning only to be told that Wednesday would be her last day.

Retrenched and with a baby on the way and a family to look after, she’s desperate and afraid.

A woman in Soweto was retrenched at the beginning of the year. She fears she will lose her house and all her possessions. To make matters worse, she can no longer claim from the UIF as one can only claim for a period of six months. She has no-one to turn to...

But amidst the credit crisis one industry is booming - debt collecting. As cash-strapped South Africans battle to keep up with payments, many companies employ debt collectors to recoup their costs.

3rd Degree spent time with two of them, as they hunt down those who can’t - or won’t - pay what they owe.

The episode asks: is there a way out of the debt trap? The show also investigates solutions to the crisis.

3rd Degree is on e.tv and the eNews Channel (DStv Channel 403) on Tuesdays at 21h30.

Tags: Other Teasers

22 Comments

Green.arrow
23 Jun 2009 21:59

3rd degree has done it for me once again.........
I have been dying to hear about those who are affected by this horror of a financial circumstance the world is in........the South African faces.....

Now...the debt collectrs...lol...they killed me...apparently they work on commision (get payed when successfull) which explains the lengths they go to to get the muller or reposses.....i never knew of such a profession.
The chase, they harass....ba jumpa ma fence.....they look like those club bodyguards(as seen on tv)....wow

And Anti Debra...who is her stylist???...im no fashionista....but i was not happy with her suit/blouse...whatever it was...it ddnt seem right either way.....
But she still rocks when it comes to her thang......

insightfull show!

dali
23 Jun 2009 22:16

Jeez! I came here running thinking dat dis an article about celebs who r affected by recession! Mncim!

Green.arrow
23 Jun 2009 22:25

lol..... dali.....

Lady D
23 Jun 2009 22:48

ya,GA i enjoyed 3rd degree,i feel better knowing im not alone!

Floh
24 Jun 2009 04:46

i was hiding, got new cell number, but debt collectors caught me. i wonder how they do it.

Floh
24 Jun 2009 04:49

Episode Title: The Faces of Recession
Broadcast date: 9 June 2009 ..............Please correct the date, last time I missed the Story for that men who was caught @ Checkers for stealing a chocolate slab.

MidgeRu
24 Jun 2009 05:20

I WAS CRUCIFIED

My story is a little different, but I can identify with all of you out there.

I lost my job of 25 years last year. My troubles began when I suggested my Manager improve service delivery by trying to ensure 1 of 3 staff be in the office to tend to clients, instead of all on smoke break etc. simultaneously. He told the Director I picked on his staff, but was severly reprimanded when I told the Director the truth. And so began my Manager's personal 8 year vendetta vs. me.

HR attempted to build a case to have me fired after I was raped, but a friend warned me. Then they tried to do illegal drug testing on me, for which they docked my pay (for 2 sessions) because the test was negative. They were so sure I did drugs, but I proved them wrong. When I asked why they docked my pay, they said I could have gone to their doctor, but how could I when they lied & said it was for my migraines. I laughed when my GP told me they wanted him to perfom drug tests on me.

Then they lost evidence proving I wasn't guilty on a charge of AWOL so I was unable to have my appeal hearing. I had also been in an abusive relationship for 10 years. Then when they reailsed they hadn't covered themselves vs. a lawsuit should anything happen to me, they hounded me for 5 years to go for counselling ( Post traumatic Distress). They refused to answer a number of my concerns due to their past history, but none were forthcoming.
As it transpires, my concerns were well founded. When they did nothing, the Union queried why & they said they weren't sending me. The Union said they had to send me for post traumatic stress counselling after hounding me for 5 years, stressing me out etc. Then they didn't pay the counsellor. I wonder if they even paid the 2nd person.

They told me that I wouldn't be allowed to return to work because a security guard had let a member of the public in who was stalking an employee & he shot & killed her. I was told a colleague said I was bringing a firearm to work but not handing it in. Not true. Most of those who knew I used to have a firearm had left or transfered so I can only assume my Manager or one of the Christians spread these rumours due to their own fears. I was being crucified because they were scared due to the security guard's failure to do his job. Well, I believe if you fear something you will manifest it, but I refuse to fulfill their destiny - find someone else please. No-one is worth going to jail for, especially someone I barely see who works down the passage???
You tell me who is crazy here. So that was when I realised they were jerking my chain trying to find an out for themselves.

True I used to 10 years ago after my rape as I had to walk home at night through the subways at the workshop & for overtime. But you tell me who the crazies are here? My Manager became known for not keeping quiet about things he had been told in strictest confidence. So I was persecuted for something that happened the other side of the complex, which set off this irrational fear resulting in my dismissal. Thank heavens I fought for some settlement, but the 3 months, R39000 was far less than the R430000 I would have recived had they paid me a retrenchment package, but my Manager/management was out for blood. I was in such shock the day they (the 2 Hr personnel, my Director & Manager) descended on me & forced me to sign something under duress, that the 5 security guards had to support me & help carry me & my bag fro the building, or I would have collapsed as I had done on other occasions after my Manager had 'attacked' me.

Once again it was my boss who caused all the trouble. I asked him to inspect

Floh
24 Jun 2009 05:55

Phew Midgeru, what an ordeal you've been through. We all say our managers doesn't like us but yours is worse. I hope you find another job if you not working and leave everything to GOD. I know you asking yourself why me?

It is not easy, but pray wnenever you get time.

A BOSS FROM HELL!

MidgeRu
24 Jun 2009 07:00

Oops – cut off cont. part2 : I wasn't allowed to collect my belongings until after I resigned.

To this day, my email address has been blocked so I cannot even contact my friend to say "Hi, how are you?" send a valid warning, or share a joke via email. The Union were useless & CCMA don't deal with Municipal cases. I was told the Municipality is a law unto themselves & act with impunity. A fact they were obviously aware of, & the Ombudsman is a division of the Municipality. In the light of my past experiences with management & the Union I didn't feel there was anyone I could trust. I had been trying to resolve all this for 8 years without success as every time I brought a case vs. Management it was buried. I wasn't even allowed to claim IOD, (Injured On Duty), & still suffer pain from the injury. Even when I went to get my Certificate of service signed I was told the Director was unavailable. I asked if I could make an appointment to see him, but the secretary told me he was too busy to see me for 5 minutes & she refused to make the appointment. This is how they treat the public.

It makes a laughing stock of Sutcliffe's & Government's BATHO PELE program.
No wonder they think all is well because they are never allowed to see or hear the truth.

I was running out of money because after they had deducted the alleged outstanding unpaid leave I only had a salary of R1094. My Bond repayments were R5500 p.m & set to rise drastically. Eventually I became too ill to fight them & I thought I had XDR TB, but they did x-rays etc at the hospital & said I had pneumonia not TB. I was forced to resign to prevent my flat being repossessed.

I have no spare money to fix my flat for resale, as I had to use my pension to pay my debts. Once again, I & face possible repossession as interest rates & my investment income plummet. I invested what I could, but it's nowhere near what I need to break even/pay my mounting debts.

It is all good & well telling people to speak to their bank etc, but when I went to my bank to ask them if there was anything, I could do, show them I was receiving a few thousand per month which I transferred to my bank account from my investment interest, they weren't interested. In fact when it came to a toss up between my bank & the bank I invested with, my bank wasn't interested in beating any other bank's offer. That is why I invested in another bank. Maybe I just spoke to someone who doesn't care & I hope that is so. Half the time management don't know what is going on under their noses.

E.g. one Heritage Day when everyone returned from lunch late. I didn't know how to do what the member of public required & I went to tell my Manager. He & the other staff members were being entertained by other staff doing traditional dance etc, but instead of instructing 1 of the 3 to return to the office to attend to the client, he said the client must come back later. The only other person in the office told him to come back on Monday. When I said to her I was sure it could be done, she said " I can do it, but I don't feel like doing it".
When the cat is away the mice certainly play. If only the boss could see what goes on behind his back when he's not there. They don't bother answering his calls etc. but jump to do so if he enters & the phone rings.

Once a 'friend' (no more) asked me what to do about my Manager’s suggestive emails & unwelcome advances. I advised she stop all communication & keep a copy of the emails she received. On the day my Manager began his vendetta vs. me, he shouted at my friends when they came to my aid & thereafter they refused to speak to me & asked me not to speak to them again.
<

MidgeRu
24 Jun 2009 07:04

Part 3 cont.
It seems slowly everyone was promoted or transferred until there were only myself & 2 blacks who weren't promoted. So my superior will continue his abuse of power with impunity. It's sad to think that the corruption, sexual harassment & continued racism will go unreported. He sends all blacks to the adjacent office & places as many indians in his section as he can, as & when the posts become available.

Perhaps I should have protected my job like my peers & refused to train new people & give them all my tips & tricks. My manager was forever covering up mistakes made by others, especially a girl he promoted after just 1 year's training in my field. It seems that quality is no longer an issue. One can do what one likes as long as you don't get caught.

These are the people Management reward with promotions, & friends get promoted after a year over those trained for over 25 years.

I digress, we are supposed to be talking debt & debt collection.
You recommend talking to one’s creditors or Bank, but I hope yours are more interested than staff at my bank were.

Next blow, it appears Bonitas Medical Scheme misinformed us of our medical benefits & now they want me to repay them R2280. I queried this when resigning & 1 of their staff checked & told me this was not so as they only advance our benefits quarterly & as I was only with them for 2 quarters, 6 months, there was nothing to repay. I was therefore stunned to receive a letter of demand this year. They read, yet refused to reply to my email. When I phoned they said they can't transfer me to their superiors or the board members. I was unable to inform them of what was going on or speak to someone who could go through all the claims with me. I wanted to know why they didn't process my claims, which would count toward threshold, when for an additional R1440, a further R6000 would be made available, which I was going to use towards an eye op. They suggested I see their local branch, but I explained they had been no help at all, re-directing me back to head office in Pretoria, as they said they didn't know how it works & can't assist me. (Perhaps they too were suffering from Friday syndrome & didn't want to help as it was near closing time). I have subsequently been handed over to debt collectors, but have heard nothing. By the time it is sorted out, I could end up owing thousands more.

My phone bill ran into thousands trying to sort out my medical aid last year & I just don't have the funds to go through that all again. It took 5 months before I got someone who knew what they were talking about.

Bonitas refused to process my account for glasses (R3000) so I can't even claim this on my tax return. Their agents misled me & others into believing the most expensive plan was better. I would never have changed to them had I known everything allegedly comes out of a total of R4560 per annum. By not processing all my claims, I never reached the Threshold with the option of paying in R1440 to access a further R6000. Similarly, I can't claim for amounts from SARS for accounts submitted that weren't paid, as Bonitas don't mention them or reflect as not paid. Nor can I claim the R2880 from SARS, as they have reflected that they have paid this amount, which technically is true. To make matters worse, my glasses are useless. The optician that manufactured my multi-focals didn't check my prescription & the prescription is wrong. He said I can keep the lenses, but this is no favour as the prescription is incorrect & therefore useless to me. He proposed he replace the R3000 multi-focals with much cheaper bi-focals, but I am not happy about this, so I sit with a pair of R3000 glasses which are totally useless to me.

RE: DEBT COLECTORS, I had a<

MidgeRu
24 Jun 2009 07:08

Cont 4
rates twice before the official announcemet of the compulsory rate cut. This means many banks have droped the interest rate 3 times. Government has spoken on this, saying that they are charging excessively, sometimes 3.5 points above the repo rate.

1 of the biggest mistakes was allowing the Lotto to stop FNB's million a month account which encouraged people to save money. Doesn't Lotto earn enough?
What of the monopolies act? Bring back the million a month draw FNB.

There are far bigger problems out there, more people in need & the sad truth is I won't find any help because I am not an affirmative. Anyway with everyone being retrenched, my story is hardly an item. I just need to vent & expose the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Well I hope many of you will be able to claim unemployment. I cannot, but hope my payments go to someone in & haven't been embezzeled.

To all you people struggling out there, they say where there is life there is hope, so hang in there.

Well, I hope this makes sense as I am tired & sun is coming up

Green.arrow
24 Jun 2009 07:22

Yoh MidgeRu....thats a sad infuriating ordeal u have been through indeed..am not done reading, will continue later......

MidgeRu
24 Jun 2009 07:38

Well I probably broke all internet rules hogging this post.
All I can say, is when I am going through a difficult time I tell myself I've survived worse.

I went to an esoteric book shop to buy a friend a necklace, just after being suspended , & they did an angel card reading. She made me go & make a photocopy to keep. It said: "A blesing in disguise" & it was I guess. I don't want to go back to that job. I was afraid to ,so the universe kicked me out to discover a grand adventure. I do have a possible venture in mind.

God is my greatest comfort. Being of christian upbringing I cling to that passage where he promises you will never be tested beyond what you are able to bear.

Prayer is great. If not for God in all 'His' many forms, I would not be here today.

This is a true story & happened this past Sunday.

A friend's 26 year old daughter had a stroke & they put her into an induced coma to help her, but she became brain dead. Her parents decided to make her an organ donor, but when they took her off life support she continued to breathe. My friend said they are allowed to keep the body going while harvesting organs, so by now Kerry was in pieces.

Imagine my surprise when a friend phoned to say Kerry woke up. She has feeling in her feet, squeezes their hand back, watches them. Doctors say it is an absolute miracle. They had taken her to a special room to prep her & remove some of her organs when she woke up. They say there is no explanation for her miraculous recovery.

Her mom had her phone off asking no one bother her until Monday, so she could come to terms with her loss, so they hospital couldn't contact her. Her other family live nearby & went to tell her, but she said she didn't believe it, could they go to hte hospital & find out what was going on on & they called her & said come quickly, Kerry is awake. She still couldn't believe it. They don't know if she will recover or relapse yet, but they say no news is good news.

Call it what you will, prayer, focused intent, but I just did a discipline we learnt at RSE & said, please let her come back even if just to say I'll be ok, goodbye.

So where there is life, there is hope! TO LIFE!!!

MidgeRu
24 Jun 2009 07:38

realist
24 Jun 2009 07:55

Those trying to eke out a living on interest like myself are dealt a doublee blow every time rates are cut.
This is a double edged sword. Those with debt especially bond and car repayments are elated when the interest rates drop. But JA I understand your frustrations when it comes to savings.

SistaBB
24 Jun 2009 08:13

Shuuuuuuu.. I cant believe I read all of this...I just got hooked.
Its a tough world out there, let's just celebrate life and be glad that we are still living it, MidgeRu...you are one tough nut to crack, hang in there &....TO LIFE!!!

tizoz
24 Jun 2009 10:51

HUH, am sorry i tried to read but this stuff is so confusing, i think in the process of all of this you somehow lost it.... seek help and I am not trying to be funny or anything.

Amza
24 Jun 2009 11:21

Yaa nee..it is Tofo *with nigerian tone*. For some reason I think MdgeRu's story came as a wake up call to me, I am lost for words

Nonny
24 Jun 2009 11:26

Jeez! I came here running thinking dat dis an article about celebs who r affected by recession! Mncim!
LOL same here Dali!

Tynt!
24 Jun 2009 11:34

Oh no! MidgeRu, Please tell me your are not who I think you are, coz my heart is bleading for you... Please PM me if you can

Segololo
24 Jun 2009 11:37

Those bodygaurds were hectic... I am gonna buy that book they spoke about and know my rights... tjeezzz! that union boy was cute.... mmmmhhhhhh!

now let me read the replies!

MS
25 Jun 2009 09:38

I earn a good salary but I still battle so I really sympathise with those less fortunate than me. What infuriates me is the beggars at the robot who harrass you. You stop at one robot and there is a woman walking up and down with a blind man, does she think we are going to give her something because she has a blind man parading up and down the road, how much of the money does he see.

Then the next robot a woman sitting with a child, how dangerous is that. I almost road over a child's foot the other day because it was dangling off the pavement.

The next joke is a robot with an old white woman sitting at it. The next think I go into a coffee shop which is also allowed to sell alcohol and who should be sitting at the table next to be with a glass of wine and a packet of rothmans, sipping and smoking away, she begs for money to buy booze and cigarettes.

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