Average household food basket up by R586,39

According to the recent data release by the Heinrich Böll Foundation Southern Africa and the Constitutionalism Fund, the average household food baskets costs around R4805.86 in South Africa as of the month of September – up by R586,39 since the same time last year.

This is well below the earning of the average worker who earns a minimum wage of R4081,44 – at iR23,19 per hour.

The September 2022 Household Affordability Index, which tracks food price data from 44 supermarkets and 30 butcheries, in Johannesburg, Durban and Pietermaritzburg, shows that the average cost of the Household Food Basket increased by R30,28 (0,6%), from R4 775,59 in August 2022 to R4 805,86 in September 2022.

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For the past three months, fuel prices and global food commodity prices have come down, yet the country has not yet seen a corresponding drop in food prices at the retail level.

The organisation said that due to a lack of transparency in the local food value chains, they were unable to identify where in the chain inflation remains stubbornly high.

Higher prices on core foods

September sees higher prices (5% +) on white bread, onions, wors, tomatoes, butternut, oranges, and stock cubes. Foods which increased by 3% include: brown bread, potatoes, milk, maas (amasi), curry powder. Frozen chicken portions and beef increased by 2%. Cooking oil dropped by an average of R20,68 per 5 litre bottle or -9% (with the average cost of a 5-litre bottle being R210,86).

The average cost of the core foods in a household basket (foods which are prioritised and bought first) are still high in relation to ability to pay. In September, the cost of these foods is R2 654,46. Over the past year, these core foods have increased in price by 16,5% (R375,56). 

Statistics South Africa’s latest Consumer Price Index for August 2022i shows that headline inflation was 7,6%, and for the lowest expenditure quintiles 1-3, it is 9,8%, 9,2% and 8,2% respectively. CPI Food inflation was 11,5%.  

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In September 2022, the average cost to feed a child a basic nutritious diet was R828,64. Over the past month, the average cost to feed a child a basic nutritious diet increased by R8,37 or 1,0%. Year-on-year, the average cost to feed a child a basic nutritious diet increased by R91,76 or 12,5% .

Minimum wage workers

For a worker’s family of four persons, even if every remaining cent of the R1 709,94 is used to buy food only – a family will live in food poverty. The updated food poverty line is R663 per capita a month: for four persons who eat together out of the same pot, this R663 (x4) is R2 652.

A worker bringing home the National Minimum Wage will see her family living in food poverty, forced to survive at 36% below the food poverty line. The consequences of this for productivity in the workplace, a strong and healthy immune system to resist illness, thriving at school; are all an impossibility.