The index found that the basket rose by R28.11 month-on-month and R87.81 compared with the same month last year, highlighting the continued pressure on low-income households despite relatively subdued headline inflation.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers / File
The cost of feeding a household increased again in July, with civil society organisations warning that rising food prices, stagnant social grants and high unemployment are worsening food insecurity across South Africa.
The latest Household Affordability Index released by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PMBEJD) on Wednesday showed that the average Household Food Basket increased to R5,530.52 in July.
The index found that the basket rose by R28.11 month-on-month and R87.81 compared with the same month last year, highlighting the continued pressure on low-income households despite relatively subdued headline inflation.
Mervyn Abrahams, director of the PMBEJD, said a number of essential food items recorded notable price increases during the month.
“Foods in the basket which increased in price in July 2023 by 5% or more included apples. Foods in the basket which increased in price in July 2023 by 2% or more include: maize meal, cooking oil, salt, potatoes, frozen chicken portions, stock cubes, eggs, wors, beef tripe, tomatoes, butternut, cabbage, cremora, tinned pilchards, peanut butter, and polony,” he said.
Some relief came from lower prices for a handful of products.
Abrahams said that foods in the basket which decreased in price in July by 5% or more includeed carrots while or more include: cake flour, samp, onions, soup, tea, beef liver, fish, spinach, green pepper, baked beans, bananas, oranges, and margarine.”
Abrahams said that food baskets increased in price in: Joburg (R50.07), Cape Town (R69.26), Springbok (R164.70), and Mtubatuba (R129.49). Food baskets decreased in Durban (-R40.31), Pietermaritzburg (-R2.56), and Mthatha (-R74.15).
The report comes after Statistics South Africa's latest Consumer Price Index showed headline inflation at 5.0%, while food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation measured 0.4% month-on-month and 1.6% year-on-year.
Abrahams said the affordability crisis cannot be understood without considering the number of people who depend on a single income.
“For Black South African workers, one wage typically must support 4 people. The maximum wage of R5,562.32 when disbursed in a family of four persons is R1,390.58.”
“This is below the National Upper-Bound Poverty Line of R2,846 per capita per month, and below the National Lower-Bound Poverty Line of R1,415 per capita per month.”
Siyanda Baduza, a researcher with the Basic Income Project at the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ), said the latest increase placed additional strain on poor households.
“The average basket has now increased by over R20 in just a month and over R150 since last year. Meanwhile, the largest grant, the Child Support Grant, is only up by R20 since last year, and the SRD remains at a tiny R370, with its last increase in 2024,” he said.
Aliya Chikte, project officer at the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC), said the cost of a basic nutritional food basket had reached R962 per person per month, while the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant remained unchanged at R370.
“The SRD grant remains fixed at just R370, covering a mere 38% of what an individual needs to meet even their most fundamental dietary requirements,” she said.
She argued that the continued exclusion of eligible beneficiaries from receiving the grant, combined with high unemployment and deepening poverty, was exacerbating hunger across the country.
Evashnee Naidu, KwaZulu-Natal regional manager of Black Sash, said many of the products recording price increases were staple foods relied on by most households.
“As the cost of food continues to increase and the instability of fuel prices seems to be an ongoing concern, it seems likely that food and fuel prices will be impacted this year,” Naidu said.
She warned that the rising cost of living was eroding the value of social grant increases introduced earlier this year and called on government to introduce measures to address food insecurity when it presents the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement in October.
“Food insecurity is growing in South Africa and the government needs to ensure measures are in place to mitigate the impact of this.”
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