30 things that make South Africans angry

Traffic jams, queue jumpers and people who think rules don’t apply to them have emerged among the list of 30 things that gets South Africans’ blood boiling.

This is according to a new health survey of more than, 1,300 South Africans who were polled by heart and stroke treatment provider, Pharma Dynamics.

People cutting in line, folk who ignore the rules, forgetting to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and load-shedding complete the top five rage-inducing annoyances.

Commuting is also a standout in the survey, including when motorists and/or cyclists jump red traffic lights, when buses or trains don’t stick to schedules and get cancelled at the last minute, and when drivers ignore zebra crossings.

Financial scenarios, namely high petrol prices, having to pay a fee for withdrawing money from an ATM, paying for parking when you only intend to pop in to the shops quickly and seeing salaries disappear in fees and taxes, all feature highly on the list.

“With 6.3 million South Africans living with high blood pressure, SA has one of the highest rates of hypertension in the world,” said Mariska van Aswegen, spokesperson of Pharma Dynamic.

“Doing activities that can help you manage your stress and improve your health can make a long-term difference in lowering blood pressure,” the spokesperson said.

SA’s top 30 annoyances  are:

• Taxi drivers
• Queue jumpers
• People who think rules don’t apply to them
• Bad manners
• Load-shedding
• Rudeness in general
• Having to go through lots of automated phone options and then being kept on hold
• Traffic jams
• Smoking around children
• Spitting in public
• Motorists and/or cyclists who jump red traffic lights
• Anti-social behaviour e.g. when someone pays more attention to their electronic device(s) than to you
• Backstabbers
• Using cellphones while driving
• People eating loudly and sloppily
• Petrol price increases
• Laziness
• People who swear all the time
• People who can’t spell or use correct grammar
• Paying a fee for withdrawing money from an ATM
• Pop-up adverts on the internet
• Paying tax
• Office suck ups
• Paying for parking when you only intend to pop in to the shops quick
• Drivers speeding through housing estates
• Your neighbour mowing the lawn or drilling at 7am on the weekend
• Drivers ignoring zebra crossings
• Tardiness
• Tissues in the washing machine
• Busses or trains being cancelled

Twenty percent of respondents experience daily stress and aggravation from everyday irritations and frustrations, and almost 40% admitted that these usually cause them stress long after the incident.

According to Pharma Dynamics’ survey, almost a third of South Africans are easily provoked with partners, call centre agents and fellow motorists most likely to be on the receiving end of their anger.

“Statistics show that about 130 heart attacks and 240 strokes occur daily in SA, which means that 10 people will suffer a stroke and five will have a heart attack every hour. We would like to call on all South Africans to have their blood pressure tested at least annually,” van Aswegen said.

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