What can you buy with $10 in Cape Town, South Africa, versus the USA?
What can you buy with $10 in Cape Town, South Africa, versus the USA?
On my African safari, I visited 5 countries and decided to buy 6 identical items in each to compare their prices with those in the USA. In this video, I show the prices of 6 items bought in Cape Town, South Africa, compared to Bakersfield, California.
Timestamp
0:00-0:19 Intro
0:20-0:32 Bananas in Cape Town
0:33-0:42 Potatoes in Cape Town…
source
At Fish Hoek Shoprite
24 Rand for 6 bananas 😮 . In the streets i can get 6 bananas for 12 to 18 Rand depending on the person selling. cape town e ya bitsa cape town is expensive compared to other places in South Africa. Thank you for the video
This is a total B@llshit comparison …. You cant convert money back and forth without also bringing in average wages !! You get paid $20+ and hour if your American per week = so 45 Hrs a week gives you R16500 a week !!! Compare that to R1250 min wage a week in SA So +/- R5000 a month compared to R66 000 a Month in US, Now paying R120 for a bread in US doesn't look so bad does it ???????????? Also where do you get bread for R10 its closer to R18 where I live ???
Interesting comparison. Should however, have compared South African staples like 'Pap', rice, meat, potatoes, as that is what most ZAcans eat. Eggs and bananas are luxuries these days. I spend about the equivalent of 75-100 Rand per day to feed a family of 4 and sometimes my daughter's boyfriend too. Fairly decent meals too like pasta N mince or curry and rice. It's not really what you buy but how you buy it. Bulk buying and fresh produce at the farmers markets go a long way. That price excludes others daily things like petrol and electricity. My daily cost of living (March 2025) is about R180/day.
Add in university fees and transport for my girls, wife's commute to work things escalate dramatically.
As for the "sketchy" part part, just because it s not Sandton, Constantia,or Umhlanga does not make it sketchy. Truth is that particular Shoprite is probably in a better area that most other supermarkets
6 bananas for R25 from shoprite is insanity. I can get 5 bananas for R5 from the street vendors….lol.
The price of basic food stuffs in DA has probably doubled in SA over the last 5 years. This also brings up the point ornreason of why immigrants trive so easily in the US. that 10 dollars is probably 1 hours work in the moat menial low pay job in the US but probably a weeks labour for our poorest day workers
What's wild is how some South Afdicans will fight against good news about their own country. Just madness
RSA is food is very expensive 😢
I would've like to see a comparison of more expensive items as well e.g. steak, cheese, coffee pods, Johnny Walker whiskey etc.
BUT a good salary in SA (e.g. a university lecturer) will be USD 22 000. In the USA that will probably be USD60 000 or more ….
A sketchy part of the town? I live here. You really didn't see much of ZA if this is a sketchy part of the town. Perhaps you should travel more and see how most of the world lives.
R18.39c X $10 = R183.90c
As of March 4th 2025
Bear in mind that minimum wage in Bakersfield, CA is $16.50 per hour – thus this basket of goods cost 30mins of work @ minimum wage.
South African minimum wage as of 1 March 2025 is R28.79 per hour so around 5.5hours of work @ minimum wage
Makes a big difference
And here's me thinking that the US is 2x or 3x more expensive.
The video was posted 4 days ago, but the bread expired in 2023.
When I was born the Rand was stronger than the dollar in early 80s. Now its 20 x weaker thanks to bad government.
Well that is one of the cheaper South African supermarkets.
I agree with the others, compare now the income levels of the two countries. Then you'll see the real difference.
Could have just checked the Economist Mac index.
Buying foods sold by weight means you're not comparing like with like.
As a South African…things are not that expensive here
Great journalism. Hope you had a great adventure. Cheers. 🥃🇿🇦
…and Cape Town is kak expensive.
The highest scamm on earth invented by capitalist,all currencies are equal,those Europeans made their lives to be easy,so that they can travel cheap,trade cheap, and buy cheap while other countries will have to pay more to them,scamm them with their currencies,that bull..it,they think they are smarter than other people,