Coping with the burden: An exploration of management strategies among young black professionals in Mopani District navigating ‘Black Tax’ expectations and financial strain

Coping with the burden: An exploration of management strategies among young black professionals in Mopani District navigating ‘Black Tax’ expectations and financial strain

Phoke Alpha Rakgwata & Rendani Tshifhumulo

Issue: Vol. 7 No.9 2026 Article 20 pp.2756 – 2767
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20267920 Published online 28th October 2026

41 Downloads

DOWNLOAD PDF

ABSTRACT

The socio-economic culture of Black Tax, where employed Blacks are supposed to take care of extended family members, is now a long-term phenomenon in post-apartheid South Africa, especially among upwardly mobile young people. This study examines the business practices of young Black professionals in the Mopani District as they balance family financial needs and individual economic goals. The study aimed to understand how these professionals perceive, experience, and manage the financial and psychosocial strains associated with the Black Tax. A qualitative and exploratory research design was used. The data were gathered through semi-structured, in-depth interviews using purposive sampling. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns and coping strategies in participants’ stories. The findings show that participants use various strategies, including financial boundary-setting, structured budgeting, open family negotiation, and emotional control practices. Although Black Tax can be seen as a moral and cultural duty grounded in collectivist principles, it also imposes a financial burden, impedes wealth accumulation, and creates psychological pressure. Informed consent, confidentiality, and voluntary participation were well adhered to. The study concluded that young professionals are resilient and use adaptive coping strategies. However, structural economic inequalities further increase the burden of Black Tax, requiring expanded financial literacy assistance and socio-economic changes.

Keywords: Black Tax, Young Black Professionals, Financial Strain, Coping Strategies, Mopani District

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allen, Jasmine. “Exploring the Wealth Creation Struggles of Black Millennials,” 2024.

Baddeley, Michelle. Behavioural Economics and Finance. Routledge, 2018.

Bai, Ruofan. “Impact of Financial Literacy, Mental Budgeting and Self Control on Financial Wellbeing: Mediating Impact of Investment Decision Making.” Plos One 18, no. 11 (2023): e0294466.

Boima, Maite Abigail. “Rethinking Communication about ‘Black Tax ‘: A Deconstruction of Media and Capitalist Framings of African Communalism,” 2024.

Brear, Michelle. “Silence and Voice in Participatory Processes–Causes, Meanings and Implications for Empowerment.” Community Development Journal 55,no.2(2020):349–68.

Dlamini, Reuben S. “Complex Inequalities and Inequities in Education: Expanding Socially Just Teaching and Learning through Digitalisation in South Africa.” Alternation, 2022, 193.

Gounder, Rukmani. “Economic Vulnerabilities and Livelihoods.”Oceania 90 (2020): 107–13.

Hajdu, Flora, David Neves, and Stefan Granlund. “Changing Livelihoods in Rural Eastern Cape, South Africa (2002–2016): Diminishing Employment and Expanding Social Protection.” Journal of Southern African Studies 46, no. 4 (2020): 743–72.

Hammarberg, Karin, Maggie Kirkman, and Sheryl De Lacey. “Qualitative Research Methods: When to Use Them and How to Judge Them.” Human Reproduction 31, no. 3 (2016): 498–501.

Kim, Jinhee, Michael S. Gutter, and Taylor Spangler. “Review of Family Financial Decision Making: Suggestions for Future Research and Implications for Financial Education.” Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning 28, no. 2 (2017): 253–67.

Lusardi, Annamaria, Pierre-Carl Michaud, and Olivia S. Mitchell. “Optimal Financial Knowledge and Wealth Inequality.” Journal of Political Economy 125,no.2(2017):431–77.

Madlingozi, Tshepo. “Social Justice in a Time of Neo-Apartheid Constitutionalism: Critiquing the Anti-Black Economy of Recognition, Incorporation and Distribution.” Stellenbosch Law Review 28, no. 1 (2017): 123–47.

Malik, Neena. “Family Systems Theory.” In Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine, 855–56. Springer, 2020.

Mangoma, Arinao, and Anthony Wilson-Prangley. “Black Tax: Understanding the Financial Transfers of the Emerging Black Middle Class.” Development Southern Africa 36, no. 4 (2019): 443–60.

Mate, Rekopantswe. “Social Policy and Social Spending in Zimbabwe: 1980 to 2015.” UNRISD Working Paper, 2018.

Mathebula, Mikateko, and Melanie Walker. “Navigating ‘Black Tax’and Financial Interdependence as a Young Person in South Africa.” Journal of Youth Studies 29, no. 6 (2026): 808–22.

Mhlongo, Niq. Black Tax: Burden or Ubuntu? Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2019.

Miller, Richard B., Shayne Anderson, and Davelyne Kaulana Keala. “Is Bowen Theory Valid? A Review of Basic Research.” Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 30, no. 4 (2004): 453–66.

Montle, M. E. “Examining the Effects of Black Tax and Socio-Economic Isolation of the Black Middle-Class in South Africa through the Study of Skeem Saam.” African Journal of Development Studies 10, no. 3 (2020): 235.

Namusoke Kiwanuka, Suzanne, Martha Akulume, Moses Tetui, Rornald Muhumuza Kananura, John Bua, and Elizabeth Ekirapa-Kiracho. “Balancing the Cost of Leaving with the Cost of Living: Drivers of Long-Term Retention of Health Workers: An Explorative Study in Three Rural Districts in Eastern Uganda.” Global Health Action 10, no. sup4 (2017): 1345494.

Oppel, Annalena. “Centring Race: Unpacking Informality through the Lens of Black Tax.” European Journal of Development Research, 2024.

Papayoanou, Paul. Power Ties: Economic Interdependence, Balancing, and War. University of Michigan Press, 2025.

Shefrin, Hersh. “Broadening the Scope of Financial Literacy to Incorporate Self-Control, Budgeting and Heuristics.” In Financial Education and Risk Literacy, 5–28. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021.

Shim, Soyeon, Angela Sorgente, Margherita Lanz, and Joyce Serido. “Examining the Effects of Personal and Sociodemographic Factors on Family Financial Socialization Process.” European Journal of Psychology Open 82, no. A (2023): 434.

Smith-Acuña, Shelly. Systems Theory in Action: Applications for Individual, Couple, and Family Therapy. John Wiley & Sons, 2026.

Taylor, Rupert. “Apartheid as Systemic Racism.” In Systemic Racism in South Africa: Humanity Lost, 15–49. Springer, 2024.

Tshifhumulo, Rendani. “The Role of Socioeconomic Background in Shaping ‘Black Tax’Obligations: A Case Study of Emerging Professionals in Rural Limpopo.” International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy (2687-2293)7,no.5(2025):589–98.

Weiland, Christiane. “Expectations and Priorities of Young Professionals in Finance.” Form@ Re-Open Journal per La Formazione in Rete 25, no. 1 (2025): 83–101.

ABOUT AUTHOR(S)

Mr Phoke Alpha Rakgwata is a South African researcher in the Department of Arts and Social Sciences (Sociology) at the University of Venda. He holds qualifications in Social Work and Sociology, and his research interests include gender studies, social work, indigenous knowledge systems, community engagement, and social development. He has published 30 peer-reviewed journal articles, with one book chapter currently under review. His scholarly work focuses on addressing social inequalities and advancing social justice through research and community-centred interventions.

Professor Rendani Tshifhumulo is a senior lecturer and HOD of the Department of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Venda, within the Faculty of Social Sciences. She holds a doctoral Degree in Sociology from the University of Venda, an MA in Social Science from the University of Pretoria, and a PGDip from Rhodes University, among her qualifications. In her more than 20 years of teaching experience, she has supervised several students at Honours, MA, and PhD to completion. She has been an external examiner for more than 5 Universities in South Africa and a co-supervisor for a group of students at Walter Sisulu University working on oesophageal cancer at the master’s level under an NRF grant led by Prof Ndebia. Professor Tshifhumulo has published over 35 research articles and book chapters, edited one peer-reviewed book, and presented her work at various international conferences, including in London, Iceland, Dubai, and Lagos. She is the editor of the “Handbook of Research on Protecting and Managing Global Indigenous Knowledge Systems,”

TO CITE ARTICLE

Rakgwata, Phoke Alpha, and Rendani Tshifhumulo. “Coping with the burden: An exploration of management strategies among young black professionals in Mopani District navigating ‘Black Tax’ expectations and financial strain.” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 7, no.9 (2026): 2756 – 2767. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20267920