You just got paid: your aunt asks for $50 for her routine medical check-up; your cousin needs an extra $30 for her tuition fees; your mother needs $20 for a new dress; your landlord is knocking on your door for his $500. Your remaining $200 is not enough for your car and insurance, young brother’s school trip and for many others who yearn for a better life through your bank balance.
This is the story of black tax that millions across the continent live with. The question is, with economies worsening, is this family support tenable, archaic, or an important part of modern African culture?
Either way, many of those fortunate to be working end up in debt because of the demands of their families.
In these tough times, debt is a growing problem. In South Africa alone, 6,000 people apply every month for debt counselling – simply put, lessons on how to get out of debt.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) confirmed over half of South Africa’s consumers are carrying too much debt. For many young, rising professionals, black tax may not be the sole reason – but it doesn’t help.
Paul Egan, Managing Consultant at UCT Unilever Institute of Strategic Management, says black professionals are suffering more than most in these difficult times.
“Compared to their white counterparts, who felt less pressure at an early age of their working lives in terms of responsibility beyond oneself, black middle-class are exposed to much responsibility earlier,” says Egan.
Not everyone believes they have to pay.
“Just because you are my extended family doesn’t mean I owe you anything. The only person I can send money to is my mom and that’s it. Finish. Other people can go and make their own money, at the end of the day I work hard to earn my money and I won’t just give it away to people because they’re family. In other words, black tax is a definite no from me,” says Yonela Mgwali, a journalist and South African graduate.
Many share his sentiments but say nothing for fear of family backlash. Many comply privately.
If you google black tax, a name from Zimbabwe will come up: Gerald Mwandiambira, from the South African Savings Institute, who is seen as an expert. He warns that in African families, where everyone claims to have raised you, the bills can weigh heavily.
“Giving back to the community that helped raise you is not black tax, it is one’s moral responsibility that is deeply entrenched in our values as Africans,” says Mwandiambira.
“There was a time when I had no salary as every cent went to black tax,” he chuckles.
“You look after ageing parents, siblings and your own children and this leaves one financially constrained at the end of each month as 80 to 90 percent of your salary goes towards black tax.”
Mwandiambira is one of many who believe financial instruments should be designed to foot the bill.
“Of all financial products in the market today, funeral policies are the only products designed with this in mind. This is a uniquely African situation.”
Single parent homes make it worse. Then there is the allure of success which brings with it the mantle of lender of last resort.
“We put ourselves under pressure once we have vestiges of success,” says Mwandiambira.
Nozipho Mbanjwa is an anchor at CNBC Africa. She has a master’s degree from Stellenbosch University and many family responsibilities.
“I am the eldest of the three girls in my family, I have helped send some to university and I am currently building a house at home. We have a sense of pride when we plough back to our families, we have an understanding of ubuntu (humanity to others) and we are who we are not because of whom we are,” she says.
Mbanjwa believes it is a hangover from apartheid and agrees with Mwandiambira that there is need to work on investment strategies.
“We need to create sustainable structures that allow our families to be entrepreneurial and self-dependable. We need to innovate so we continue upholding our values.”
Tshepo Maota, a young accountant in Johannesburg, calls for improved financial literacy.
“We need to start teaching our people models of investments,” he says.
“Black people need to put in extra hours, compared to their white counterparts, to remain competitive and meet family obligations.”
Lebogang Mokgethi, a postgraduate anthropology candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, is also a supporter.
“I don’t want to be the only graduate in my street; it does not mean anything to me. I am playing my role by empowering my family members and high school learners with career guidance and leadership,” she says.
“We have the Italians, the Greeks and the Jewish racial groups who work collectively to help lift families from poverty. Instead of giving money to buy a microwave, we need to invest in small businesses.”
Zweli Mabhoza, a tax advisor and founder of Premier Priority Tax Solutions, sees black tax as a way of managing resources.
“A lot of people complaining about black tax are products of black tax themselves,” he says.
“Sometimes you don’t have to give anything to people who helped raise you but simply replicate what was done for you.”
Black tax, love it or hate it, if you are a young African professional, you are mostly likely to have to pay it.

Black  Taxed

Every time a woman earns R89 ($6), a man earns R100 ($7).
That’s right. Seventy years since women joined the workforce en masse, these inequalities are as real, though more insidious, than ever, and the repercussions of this disparity ripple across a woman’s entire lifetime. Payslips serve as benchmarks for future raises and these differences accumulate over time, into the difference it takes to pay back student loans and the amount it’s possible to save for retirement.
The wage gap is also maddeningly ubiquitous. Women in executive positions in South Africa earn 11% less than men, 13% less in management, and an enormous 21% less in professional roles, according to research and consultant firm Mercer.
This difference is set up from childhood.
“Girls are socialized differently,” says Anita Bosch, lead researcher at the Women in the Workplace Research Programme at the Faculty of Management at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). Girls aren’t encouraged to enjoy and be good at Maths and Science, and this, says Bosch, changes their possible career choices.
Donna Rachelson, the author of Play To Win: What Women Can Learn From Men In Business, says that socialization is even more subtle than simply what subjects are taken in school.
“Men learn that games are win or lose, and this attitude is taken into the workplace when it comes to salary negotiations,” says Rachelson.
Yolisa Phahle, the CEO of MNet, comes from the BBC in London, and says that in her international experience, many companies prohibit salary discussions amongst employees and it’s difficult to know where the differential comes in.
“I always felt that men earned more,” says Phahle, “But without the numbers it’s hard to prove, and hard to negotiate.”
Luckily for her, her husband was always a step or two above her on the career ladder, and she had a benchmark when it came to raise negotiations.
However, this is not the norm and asking for a raise is certainly a significant part of the problem.
“The assumption is if I do good work, it’ll be seen and I’ll be rewarded for it,” says Bosch. “But that’s not the case. Companies aren’t benevolent. If you need a raise, you must ask for it.”
Women tend to wait until they’re certain they deserve a promotion before approaching management, whereas men negotiate that raise long before.
“Demand more, don’t sit back and just say thank you,” says Lee-Anne Bac, a director of advisory services at Grant Thornton.
“Women are also penalized for their parental responsibilities,” she adds.
Leaving work early is frowned upon, and yet society expects women to bear the bulk of the burden of parenthood. This leads to what is called the ‘motherhood penalty’ and the ‘fatherhood bonus’.
Aside from career paths thrown offtrack by maternity leave, the possibility that a woman could fall pregnant and that her time could or is taken up by parental responsibilities takes a hefty toll on salaries and career trajectories. The opposite is true for men. Being perceived as the breadwinner gives married fathers a salary bump over their single colleagues. Bac says women need to challenge their organizations, and make their partners your true partner in all aspects.
“My husband and I both get home at 5.30PM, spend time with our child and continue work later that evening,” says Bac.
These inequalities are rooted in a patriarchal past, with a workplace built around men. But with an increasingly large female workforce, it’s essential that change takes place for a healthy economy.
No one thing is going to change the wage parity, and remember, as Rachelson says: “Don’t try to be like a man, just understand how the game is played.”

Anita-formal-portrait

Unequal Pay For Equal Work

A recent study from the 50,000-member strong B2B Technology Marketing community on LinkedIn showed that 85% of B2B Marketers say LinkedIn is the most effective social network in delivering content. That study also showed that 71% of B2B Marketers say audience relevance is the most important element of content marketing and 88% of B2B Marketers cite case studies as the most effective form content marketing.
Yet, most business owners and most marketing, sales and business development professionals have a LinkedIn profile that reads like a resume. Their profiles do not show why a decision-maker or influencer should connect with them. Right there, they are not demonstrating their relevance. And, they’re not effectively showing their relevance in the content they are sharing.
Let me show you how four women are effectively using content and LinkedIn to generate more leads and profits.
<h4>How the founder of Wizard Media gained hundreds of leads and $60,000 by mixing content marketing with LinkedIn marketing</h4>
If you look at the profile of Jimena Cortes, you’ll notice we’ve included case studies. For example, you’ll find a case study on how Jimena built a Neiman Marcus jewelry designer’s Facebook community to 45,000 members in nine months (something retailers would find very interesting). Within that case study, Jimena shows why her strategies took the client from 600 fans to 45,000 fans, zero engagement to capturing 37% of her fans’ information and from zero sales to $12,000 in three days.
Because her profile has content that resonates with her targeted audiences – her targeted audiences are accepting her LinkedIn connection. They’re joining her LinkedIn groups where she offers more content. The profile attracted a prospect that was ready, willing and able to spend $36,000 per year on her services.
Plus, when Jimena completes an email lead generation campaign through LinkedIn (using LinkedIn groups) about an upcoming webinar, prospects are signing up because they see that she has value to offer just by looking at her profile. By mixing LinkedIn marketing with webinar marketing (a form of content marketing), Jimena gained an additional $60,000 for her business last year.
<h4>IT marketing firm gains four new clients fast by challenging the way software and technology companies market their solutions</h4>
Conversion Copywriting President Susan Tatum creates thought leadership content for her clients so they can attract more prospects. But she was creating the same old, boring topics on her own blog. She was writing about topics like “Wow to write an awesome white paper”, “Why tech marketers must have a blog” and “Five signs you’re talking to the wrong content writer.” She was writing for the search engines – but she wasn’t writing content that would position her as an influencer within the different social media circles she belonged to, including LinkedIn. LinkedIn members are savvy, educated professionals, who are constantly looking for new and original ideas and ways of conducting business. As there are thousands of LinkedIn groups with hundreds of discussions happening every single day, your content will get ignored if you are providing the same old, regurgitated content that’s already all over the web. By creating thought-provoking blog posts, special reports and discussions that literally open the eyes of technology marketers inside her own Linked-In group and inside the 50 targeted groups she belongs to, Susan increased her website traffic by 300%. She went from zero LinkedIn shares to 90+ LinkedIn shares. And, she was able to recently gain four new clients including a company that serves 86% of the Fortune 100.
<h4>International coaching firm attracts more women business owners by telling stories</h4>
While working with Zee Worstell, President of AccelerateHer, I discovered that she and her clients had amazing stories to tell. Zee’s expertise is in showing women business owners how to price themselves appropriately. She knows first-hand how hard this is because she came across this issue when she was growing her recruiting business. When she was starting out, she would lower her prices in order to secure a client and wound up earning less than she was worth. This backfired because prospects would doubt her work because she was priced significantly lower than her competition. She was turning off prospects just by lowering her fees – and the clients she did get failed to show her respect. So, we had Zee create blog posts that discussed the “good girl beliefs” that held her back as a woman business owner. She discussed her own confidence issues within the articles and the mistakes she made. She also writes articles where she discusses the challenges her clients faced – and she tells their complete story and how they’ve become successful. As on average, women business owners make 45% less than male business owners, her target audience resonated with the discussions that were being created based on the blog posts. In fact, when she spoke to many of her LinkedIn connections on the phone (as she took the LinkedIn conversation offline) they felt like she was writing and speaking directly to them. As a result they signed up for her coaching program.
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<h4>How the author of this article mixed LinkedIn marketing and content marketing to gain more PR, more exposure and more leads</h4>
You are reading this article right now because I invited the editor to connect and to join my Get Help with Linked Strategies LinkedIn group so she can see the value I have to offer her readers. After reviewing my LinkedIn discussions and blog posts, she asked me to write the article that you’re reading right now. How many leads do you think I’ll generate by being on one of the top business websites? Now, offer real value, challenge your prospects, start thought-provoking conversations, showcase your expertise by sharing case studies, demonstrate your relevance and connect with your audience with stories. And you will generate more leads with LinkedIn.
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Tag: Professionals

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

Black Taxed

Unequal Pay For Equal Work

LinkedIn with content marketing