Today when I tried to pay for petrol with my Discovery card the petrol attendant informed me that there was a problem and that they could not process the transaction. I ended up being forced to use the ATM at the filling station - and being late for an appointment... grrr... technology!

This card isn't a normal credit card. I can't use it to buy dinner, a fine set of glasses or even a candle holder. All this piece of plastic is good for is to buy petrol or diesel.

South Africa must be one of the few countries where you cannot buy fuel with your ordinary credit card. How disastrous it must be as a tourist to find out only once you've filled up your rental car's tank that the filling station won't accept your credit card.

Since we can't use traditional credit cards to purchase fuel, we have to either carry wads of cash around with us, draw money at the filling station's ATM, or use one of these special "garage cards".