Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have influenced how couples in relationships think about money. Amongst other things a subject that has been trending is #relationshipGoals where couples brag about what they have, the kind of vacations they go to and the kind of gifts they buy one another.
There has been posts trending on social media, where both men and women discourage dating partners whom are “broke”. Kagiso Mokone 26 from Ga-Rankuwa wrote to a show called “Uyang’Thandana na?”, a show on DSTV where he proposed to a girl he met named Lerato. The girl told Kagiso that “he cannot afford her lifestyle” and she wanted men that have money to afford her needs and wants. “Imagine a handsome guy with a six-pack but broke, and imagine an old guy whose fat with money, I am so confused” Lerato said. Social media crucified Lerato for saying such words on national TV.
According to Statistics South Africa(STATS SA) 4/10 marriages end up in divorce because of financial issues, which clearly highlights that money is important in both marriage and for dating couples. Not only does money affect couples but also people lose their friendship because of financial difficulties. People befriend those who have money and unfriend those that do not have it. There’s a perception that money has control over everything if we take a closer look at how people live in social media.
In 2018 a video was circulating all over social media of a South African young man who bought his girlfriend a Datsun Go car as part of his valentines’ gift. The girl cried not because she was happy but because the car did not go hand in hand with her standards. The girl rejected the car and the young man was left heart broken. This shows that people value money more in their relationships rather than their partners. “It’s the thought that counts” a saying that people no longer practice because they want to live the high life.
It is now unclear if people are dating or getting married because their partners are financially stable or because they clearly love them. One can never be sure. Not forgetting that there are people whom love their partners nonetheless of money or not, because they are in it for the long run.
Images Courtesy of Google and Twitter.
By:AMOGELANG RAMOTSHO
