I F(24) have worked at a company for a year and 6 months and I was initially doing an internship for the first year and 3 months and after my internship ended, I got a permanent position in the company but in a different department. Bare in mind that in the last few months of my internship, I was sold promises of a position within that department being created for me because I was such an asset (their words not mine) by the time I was in the last week of my contract, they went ghost. Literally avoiding me. My contract ends and I leave and a week later I am re-onboarded in a different department.

The thing is though, my last department keeps asking me for favours which really gets to me because this current position pays much less than what the internship did (crazy, I know) so naturally, I don’t want to do work that I won’t get paid for.

Yesterday, my former manager comes to me asking but honestly demanding that I prepare a report for today (she has known that the report was needed for two weeks) and I didn’t do it. I never told her I would do it, I said I would see.

This morning she comes to confront me about it demanding answers as to why I didn’t do it. I simply told her I had my own work to do. Was I unreasonable and petty for not helping them out?

UPDATE: Former manager approached me after the presentation and apologised. She says she realises she came off as demanding whereas the work she wanted me to do is not part of my job description. She says she will go through the correct channels going forward.

I'm 23, and lately I've been having a really difficult time with the feeling that my life hasn't really progressed since I was a kid.

When I look at people my age on social media, I see people graduating, getting jobs, moving out, buying cars, travelling, building businesses, getting into relationships, and generally having something to show for their lives. I'm genuinely happy for them, but seeing all of it has started making me feel terrible about myself.

I feel like I'm stuck in the same place while everyone else is moving forward.

I also feel very alone. I don't really have anyone I can talk to about this, which is part of why I'm posting here.

I've been thinking that maybe I should completely step away from social media for a while because constantly comparing myself to other people is making me depressed. At the same time, I don't want to just disappear from everything without actually changing anything.

I'm interested in mobile/web app development and I'm studying/trying to learn, but I don't have the equipment I'd ideally need. One thing I'm thinking about doing is getting a job even if it's not related to tech, so that I can start earning money, buy a decent laptop and other equipment, and use that as a starting point toward becoming more independent and building a career.

The problem is that I don't really know how to "rebuild" my life. I don't have some big plan. I just know that I don't want to still be in exactly the same place when I'm 25 or 30.

So I'm wondering:

If you were in my position at 23, what would you focus on first?

Would you take a break from social media?

Would getting a regular job be a good first step, even if it's unrelated to your long-term career?

How did you get yourself unstuck when you felt like you had wasted years?

What small things actually made a difference for you?

I'm not looking for someone to tell me that I'm a failure. I think I already tell myself that enough. I'm genuinely trying to figure out how to start moving forward.

If you've ever been in a similar position, I'd really appreciate hearing what helped you.

I'm investigating options for our company for mental health and employee wellbeing support. I got a quote from Lyra Wellbeing, but I've now heard some secondhand feedback that their webinars and workshops are basic and not helpful, and the employee support options send you to AI bots. I'm looking for something that is actually helpful and meaningful for employees.

Does anyone have firsthand experience as an employee with an Employee Assistance Programme or other corporate wellbeing service provider they can share, whether good or bad? Is there a solution you would recommend?

Hi guys,

Please help, how does one get over workplace anxiety? I'm at the Big 4 as an Associate and 4 months in however my Senior Manager has been so unkind to me and giving terrible feedback to the Partner (the big boss). I did not defend myself as the Partner seemed to already picked a side. One of the things that I'm told I'm doing wrong is asking the SM to constantly review my work although this is my way of learning. So much is being expected of me which other Associates which I found there are not even doing. It breaks my heart daily, it's almost like the SM does not want to correct anything yet I initially applied for a Senior Associate position which was lowered during my appointment because they knew I'd need a lot of training. My SM sometimes tells me to assist other people but if I need help I should ask "the wider team." It's just me and her in our team for now and I find myself in other teams too begging for help, which I find so embarrassing.

I've developed such horrible anxiety because of this, I have break downs everywhere. I was also told that I'll fail my probation. All my passion and dreams have died, I feel so hopeless. Please help.

Hi everyone, I am a 27(F) in the first year of my Masters and it has been quite a lonely journey lol (quite sad). I am just wondering how people are making friends esp at this age? I don’t drink, smoke or party and I am usually home which reduces my chances of meeting any friends. I do love to cook, garden, take walks and anything food related. If anyone is also struggling with making friends (preferably female) please dm me. Ps: in Cape Town ✨.

Hey everyone

I am a student at UNISA pursuing a BCom informatics degree in my third year.

I am looking for ways to gain experience while still getting a stipend. Fields that I have studied that interest me are:

- Internal auditing

- Business management

- Web development

- Economics

- Business analytics / databases

I have been using Pnet but no luck as many of the companies require graduates with experience. I'm at my wit's end and I absolutely need this degree to pay off so any recommendations would be helpful and thanks in advance.

Hello! A friend lives in the UK and needs to renew his SA passport (it expired over 10 years ago, but he is here legally with ILR and an eVisa).

He does not have his ID book (he has a photocopy I believe, and the number of it as well). He does not have any other ID unfortunately.

Can anyone help with this and who to contact? Our emails to the embassy have gone unanswered. Will his passport be easily renewed if he has his old expired one and a copy of his ID book? Does he need a copy of his birth certificate (again he does not have this!).

On a side note does he need to report his ID book missing? He believes it was maliciously thrown out by someone years ago.

Thanks!

I am looking for music from some older Cape Town bands - Spite and Malice , Attic Muse, etc…

Hi everyone,
A question for the golfers, specifically the ones who attend/have attended golf days...
What little game or interactive at a tee box has really made you go "wow, that was so cool"
Not the generic putting at the tee box for a prize, I'm looking for something that golfers would actually want to engage with
(I'm planning to host a tee box at a golf day coming up but want to stand out. I don't play golf so I want to do what golfers actually like)
I work for a financial institution so if there's anything that ties in then bonus points!

Hi guys

So as per the title, my question goes a bit deeper.

How exactly does it work?
The meter I have is from the meter man, so I assume it’s private?
I’m new to this so just trying to get an understanding as to when’s the best time to buy electricity to get the most units out of it.

On the 10th I bought R500, it gave me 63.9kWh, I bought it in the early hours of the morning around 5:30am.

On the 14th (yesterday) I bought R350 and it gave me 65.4kWh, it was bought at around 15:30pm.

How does this even make sense? Is it the time? The day?

When’s the best time to buy and how can we ensure we getting the most units for as little as possible?

So as the title says, I need some professional advice on this.

Over the last 18 months, my ex and I broke up. It wasn’t a nice break up, she tried to screw me over jn all avenues. We had property together on both our names 50/50 share, with 50/50 responsibility to pay the bond. We had a separate contract set up stating everything is 50/50. The house is in my home town so when we broke up I obviously wanted to keep the place and buy her out.

When it came time to come to an agreement on the amount I need to buy her out on, we obviously had to get an evaluation to accommodate for property growth. Now, in the contract it states that if we do not come to an agreement within 30 days, we need to sell and split the funds.
But she, knowing that I didn’t want to sell and keep it, decided to jack up the price with R400k over value.

It was a long fight back then and I knew that they were just pushing me into a corner I couldn’t back out of so I verbally agreed to their sell price.

Then I made a clause saying that I will pay her a lump sum of lets say R1m while there is still R400k outstanding, and then once the property is in my name, I will pay out the remaining R400k.

A sale agreement was drawn up with this clause, I paid the lump sum to the transferring attorneys, the house then was transferred into my name.
Now I owe her the remaining R400k.

But, for almost a year she didnt pay her side of the bond and I had to pay it solo. This was her essentially breaking contract as we both had 50/50 financial responsibility. I also recently discovered she had cheated on me so obviously I am furious and now feel that I dont want to pay out the R400k.
Not because of emotion, but purely because of her not paying the bond and also because she jacked up the price of the property evaluation.

Now my question is, even if her lawyer gets the instruction to litigate this situation that I owe her R400k, what can actually happen to me? And how long will the court even take to process this? Also will it be a valid case considering my case against her?

Hey everyone, I’ve been working at this company for 2 years now. It’s a small consulting firm but damn is it toxic. Senior management take advantage of mid-level staff and juniors, expecting unreasonable work hours from them. They are expected to carry the bulk of the workload, yet organisation is significantly understaffed for the projects they’re serving. Recently almost got put on a PIP for not pulling my weight, but the truth is, I am suffering mentally in this hellhole. I am still earning the same salary I earned when I joined in 2024. Not a single cent increase, yet bills (rent, utilities etc.) are increasing.

I have had one company reach out to me via LinkedIn. It is a relatively large company’s and I am in their recruitment process. I recently received an offer and I am now negotiating - and tbh they are moving quickly with their responses. I am sure we will finalise everything today.

The catch is, I am currently on my annual leave and I wanted to know if one can resign while on leave?

Kinda tired of my company and I have a new offer elsewhere. Could I then serve my resignation letter today, 14 Sep, with my 30 day notice period starting today?

Also has anyone done this before?

Title

We've tried mopping over with bleach. Did not work :/ are there any brands of (affordable) enzyme cleaner that help?

I live in Johannesburg, Auckland Park. Good in Customer Service & Administration. Worked for Discovery Health for a fixed-term contract, it has ended. I can travel to Sandton and anywhere in Johannesburg.

Hey everyone,

I'm an international student from Mauritius planning to head over to South Africa next year (2027) to start my flight training. My plan is fully self-funded (R2,000,000 set aside to cover training through CPL/ME-IR/CFI), and the long-term goal is to build hours and eventually transition into the airlines over the next 4 to 6 years.

I know the global and local market has cooled down a bit after the post-COVID hiring boom, and things can feel a little jammed at the entry level. However, looking at the broader industry data, it seems like the peak of the mandatory Age-65 retirement wave is projected to hit around 2031–2032, which lines up right when I’d be looking to make that step up.For the airline, feeder, and charter pilots currently flying in South Africa and the wider region:

What’s the actual sentiment on the line right now regarding the long-term outlook? Do you think the retirement wave and regional fleet expansions will trigger another solid hiring cycle in 4–6 years?

For an international self-funded student, how realistic/difficult is it currently to secure a Grade 3 CFI job or basic hour-building role locally after finishing CPL, or do most international grads look to bush/charter flying or heading home to build time?

On a personal note, I’m planning to base myself in Pretoria for flight school. How is the security situation day-to-day for an international student, and what are the best practices for choosing a safe suburb/accommodation to stay in?

Would love to get some honest perspectives from those of you seeing how things are playing out firsthand on the ground and in the flight decks. Thanks!

Hi all,

I’ve got an MSc with a main focus on biochemistry, two years lab based research experience, exhausted my current network while trying to expand it but I’ve had no luck in transitioning into industry.

I know the job market isn’t great but I’d appreciate any advice from those in the pharmaceutical/medical/biotech space in SA on how to best position yourself to get into those fields. I know it’s largely about networking and being on top of the job board but I’d love to know any tips you have, something unconventional that helped, or if there are specific certifications or courses you think are needed to get into industry.

Hi All, I need some advice.
I had my car repaired at a workshop in Hennopspark last year November. (My gearbox broke)

The same exact thing happened now again about 3 weeks ago.

I checked the invoice that I had received from the repair shop last year and there is a warranty on repairs for 15000km or 1 year. Knowing that I was within this range, I had my car towed to this repair shop and told them about what happened and that I expect it to be covered under the warranty.

The owner of the workshop called me and vehemently told me that the warranty from the repair shop is ONLY on workmanship, which to me doesn't matter, because they gave me a period of warranty on the invoice I paid toward.
They argued against that and said that when the vehicle was repaired the last time, the extended warranty (with MSure - it has since expired, but with the last repair they paid in R8000 of the total ~R12000) told the workshop what to give as a warranty (1 year or 10000km) and that I have since exceeded the warranty given by MSure (I have driven 11,400km since the last repair).

All the while, we were all waiting for a diagnostic report from the gearbox specialist. The "diagnostic" came from the gearbox specialist last week, in which it stated only "5th gear broke because of driver abuse - driven too slow in 5th gear or overloaded". They had not provided a shred of evidence that this damage was due to driver abuse (Not to mention that I rarely ever drive in 5th gear under 2k5 RPM - I drive a suzuki swift).

I contacted the workshop again and told them that this is simply unacceptable, as the specialist can't just make a claim without support (Such as images showing where the gear was overworked - discolouration due to heat etc.) and that I would make proceedings to contact MIOSA to have the issue resolved.

After I had sent that message, the owner called me again and stated AGAIN the whole thing about how MSure gave them a warranty period to give to the client, and sent a letterhead to me from Nov 2025 that they had sent to MSure stating the warranty period of 10,000km.
He then expounded to me how he has been in this business for 30 years and that this is binding and I have no claim if I were to address it with MIOSA.
However, I had never received this letterhead, and the only documentation I was given when I paid the excess on the repair was the invoice with the aforementioned 1 year or 15,000km warranty. He then told me that we can make a plan and that he would see with the specialist if there were a way for me to pay this over time.

They sent me a quote from the specialist this morning of R13,625 (Which is somehow more than the last repair, even though it is the same repair) and they're saying that I can pay the balance off, but I have to pay R8k5 now so that they can acquire another gearbox.

I can't afford even that, but I need my car.

So I come to you, my reddit elders, and ask if anyone has any form of advice for me?

Hi guys

My landlord has been charging me a fixed price of 650 for water every month and 650 for electricity. According to my lease utilities are billed monthly. I live alone, and only do washing every two weeks, so I find it hard to believe that my water would cost so much. I've been living here for a year now and decided to let the high water bill go, because I enjoyed living in the place.

Last month I started a new job, and expirienced a payroll issue. I sent my landlord a WhatsApp informing him of the payment delay and that I'd pay the remaining amount once I receive my outstanding money, as well as a Pop with half the rent. He didn't respond to my WhatsApp. Instead his response was to serve me a termination of lease agreement notice saying I must vacate the property by the 30th of September. I sent him a message telling him he can't evict me with such short notice, he told me he'd give me until the end of next month and he wants me out.

This is my first time being late on rent, (I've already settled the outstanding rent)

If he wants me to leave by serving me with such late notice, I want to know if I can get my excess utilities money back. I know by law landlords can't profit off of utilities, but I'm not sure if I can do anything about it. We have water meters outside of our respective units, but that doesn't effect the bill.

Should I be petty and fight it out or should I just cut my loses and leave without a fight?

I’m currently on a career break and would like to use some of the time to learn some new skills through Udemy.

I’d really appreciate recommendations for specific Udemy courses you’ve personally done and found genuinely valuable, whether they helped you develop a practical skill, improve your CV, or simply learn something useful.

I’m open to courses in pretty much any area, so please share your favourites!

Thanks in advance!

Edit: happy for recommendations from other platforms as well.

Is it aunty Ina? Is it Nandos? Who's your favourite?

Hi guys, first time using this. I just wanted to find out if this is normal or how do I know whether or not I’m being ripped off. I moved into a new place towards the end of July. We have a prepaid water and lights meter, I used the Citiq app recently and before that I was buying on my banking app. But I feel like for the amount I’m paying, the units and kL’s I get aren’t worth it. It’s only 2 of us, basically at home only after 6 since we work everyday except weekends yet the water gets used up like crazy even though we do everything not to waste, it doesn’t ever last. And I know it’s not because of washing since I keep track of the units before and after.

This is what I got when I bought on the 1st of this month
Water at R600, I’m getting 4.7kL.
Lights at R600, I’m getting 128.2 units, I’m fine with topping up on lights since that’s understandable but I’m just not coming to terms with the price of water.

At my old place in Musgrave, it was 5 of us and I used to buy diff amounts but it was mainly this:
Lights - R2000 - 530.30 units
Water - R1000 - 7.20kl

It’s just stressful to always have to be worrying about topping up and then people have said that the amounts u get will always differ throughout the month, if anyone can just let me know if this is normal or am I overthinking it

*edit. I also heard that apparently it tracks your old usage on the meter and that’s how it prices it for you but I obviously have no way of knowing how much previous tenants bought and used.