From desperation to recovery, this person clawed their way back.
When a major contract suddenly fell away at the start of 2024, one South African freelancer saw his monthly income collapse almost overnight.
Until January that year, he had been earning the equivalent of about R80,000 a month through a contract arrangement. Before accounting for benefits such as medical aid and retirement annuity contributions, his gross income had been around R60,000 a month.
By 1 February, that figure had dropped to about R25,000. “It was pushing it,” he says of the income estimate. “That was based on freelance invoices I expected to be paid.”
The income shock followed a contract dispute and forced an immediate reassessment of his finances.
