Household food basket: Low-income consumers paying more again

While consumers are already battling Januworry with its host of new expenses such as school uniforms and books, low-income consumers also had to pay almost 1% more for the food in the household food basket.

Key data from the January 2025 Household Affordability Index compiled by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group shows that the average cost of the household food basket was R5 433.70 in the first month of the year, an increase of R50.32 (0.9%) compared to December and R108.84 (2.0%) more than in January 2024.

Women from low-income communities track the prices of 44 basic food items for the Household Affordability Index at 47 supermarkets and 32 butcheries where they shop in Johannesburg (Soweto, Alexandra, Tembisa and Hillbrow), Durban (KwaMashu, Umlazi, Isipingo, Durban CBD, Hammarsdale and Pinetown), Cape Town (Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Philippi, Langa, Delft and Dunoon), Pietermaritzburg, Mtubatuba (in Northern KwaZulu-Natal) and Springbok (in the Northern Cape).

Of the 44 food items tracked in the basket, 31 food items cost more, while the prices of 12 food items decreased.

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Household food basket items that increased and decreased in price

Food items in the household food basket that cost more in January 2025 by 5% or more include potatoes (+7%), onions (+5%) and chicken livers (+5%).

Food items in the household food basket that cost more than 2% include maize meal (+3%), sugar beans (+4%), samp (+2%), cooking oil (+2%), salt (+4%), curry powder (+2%), tea (+2%), beef (+3%), wors (+4%), beef tripe (+3%), fish (+2%), carrots (+4%), spinach (+4%), canned beans (+2%) and apples (3%).

A few of the food items that cost less in January include soup (-2%), chicken feet (-3%), beef liver (-4%), tomatoes (-2%), Cremora (-2%), bananas (-3%) and brown bread (-2%).

In January, the household food basket cost more in Durban, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg, and Mtubatuba, while it cost less on average in Johannesburg and Springbok.

The Johannesburg household food basket cost R5 507.38 in January 2025, while the Durban basket cost R5 451.07, the Cape Town basket R5 368.58, the Springbok basket R5 773.13, the Pietermaritzburg basket R5 075.45 and the Mtubatuba basket R5 600.67.

Statistics SA’s latest Consumer Price Index for December 2024 shows that headline inflation was 3%, while food inflation was 1.7%.

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Nobody earning minimum wage can afford the household food basket

The National Minimum Wage was R27.58 an hour and R220.64 for an eight-hour day in January and with 22 working days the maximum wage for a general worker was R4 854.08. Black South African workers typically support four people and dispersed in a worker’s family the wage comes to R1 213.52 per person, far below the upper-bound poverty line of R1 634 per person per month.

In January, the average cost of a basic nutritional food basket for a family of four was R3 830.05. Using Pietermaritzburg-based figures for electricity and transport and the average figure for a minimum nutritional basket of food for a family of four, the group calculates that electricity and transport take up R2 802.97 (57.7%) of a worker’s wage of R4 854.08.

Low-income workers only buy food after paying for transport and electricity, leaving them with only R2 051.11 for food and everything else. Therefore, the group calculates that in January, workers’ families underspent on food by a minimum of 46.4%.

The group says in this scenario, there is no possibility of a worker being able to afford enough nutritious food for her family. If the entire R2 051.11 was used to buy food, it would provide R512.78 per person per month for food, again far below the food poverty line of R796.

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No nutritious food for children and no money for hygiene products

The average cost to feed a child a basic nutritious diet was R976.39 in January after increasing by R7.83 or 0.8% from December and R22.64 or 2.4% more than a year ago. The Child Support Grant was R530, 33% below the Food Poverty Line of R796 and 46% below the average cost (R976.39) to feed a child a basic nutritious diet.

The group also points out that the Household Domestic and Personal Hygiene Index increased by R12.32 (1.2%) compared to December, with the index increasing by R39.83 (4%) over the past year, bringing the total average cost of basic household domestic and personal hygiene products to R1 045.64 in January.