And in a bid to find out how consumers manage the tight squeeze on their family budgets, Kathorus MAIL visited Kathorus’s popular shopping mall, the Chris Hani Crossing in Vosloorus and conducted a snap-survey, speaking to shoppers who said they found the weight of their monthly groceries shopping bags had shrunk in size.
Consumers described the high cost of foodstuff – the single most essential source of livelihood, enjoyment and nourishment for human beings – gradually becoming out of their reach as they battle to make ends meet.
And other unavoidable expenses such as paying for the roof over their heads, the cost of their children’s education, school uniforms and all the other paraphernalia that goes with it, like transport – most families are barely surviving to make ends meet.
Prince Nxumalo, from Vosloorus; “It is a sad reality that food is getting more expensive by the day. The responsibility of putting food on the table today is a far cry from what it used to be about five years ago.
“Hardly a decade ago, with R500 in your pocket, you were guaranteed to return home wobbling under the heavy load of groceries and a bit of loose change. These days, one buys a lot less with the same amount of money which includes;
* paying your taxi fare to and from the shopping centre,
* buy air-time, before you can then include the basic foodstuff essentials such as;
* two loaves of brown bread,
* a litre of milk,
* 124 g packet of tea bags,
* a bottle of peanut butter,
* a 2kg plastic bag of refined Maltabela or sorghum porridge,
* 2kg container of cooking oil,
* a 5kg pocket of mealie meal,
* washing powders,
* two bars of face soap
* Toilet paper
* a jar of Vaseline
“You also can add other poor people’s luxuries like a favourite daily newspaper and, if you are a penny-pincher, perhaps even squeeze a two-litre bottle of soft-drink out of the whole amount,” said Nxumalo as he explained the dire straits the rising cost of living has placed many ordinary households in, in his own neighbourhood in the old eBaSuthwini Section in Vosloorus.
While the impact is felt more in poor and informal residential areas, Kathorus MAIL has unconfirmed reports of many middle-class families resorting to between two and just one single meal a day.
“They only eat supper at night and then keep what’s left over for their next meal the following evening,” explained Nxumalo, who said the situation is affecting the ordinary man in the street and impacting adversely on his family.
And with the rate of unemployment also growing, supper dishes in many homes have also become smaller with even smaller portions on each plate.
Bigger families are the most hit as many battle and find it hard to absorb the sudden additional costs in rising food prices. And some, trying to stretch food to last a little longer, have resorted to cutting out many of the many unnecessary luxuries in their grocery budgets.
Emmah Mbatha, from Rondebult: “I am a pensioner and adoring grandmother of three lovely young abazukulu (grandchildren). As far back as I can remember, on every pay-out day I have been going all out to treat them to good times. Sweets, icecream (just the basic), cakes, cold drinks and pocket money were the order of such days, which we all used to look forward to,” she said.
“The high price of food means doing away with luxuries and settling for necessities. How we all miss those good old days that are no more. What makes things even worse is the fact that I happen to have a sweet tooth, when even sweets and chocolates have become beyond reach. Some shops give discount prices on groceries, but many of those are a bit too far away. As a result, whatever little you save on groceries, you end up using to pay for transport, and it is back to square one.
“Due to high cost of food, my monthly pension pay-outs can no longer make ends meet, to such an extent that the next pay-out always seems like year away.”
Mpho Ngcobo, from Ndlazi Section in Katlehong; “Seven years ago, when our first child, a baby boy, was born, putting food on the table was a simple task for my partner and me, and the cost of living was fairly affordable. In fact, our fridge was almost full at almost all the time, and there was more than enough for our little household.
“With the birth of my second child, another boy, four years ago, came the challenge of stretching our food budget to last a bit longer. Powdered formula and bottled baby food were more expensive than they were when we had our first-born.
“The high cost of food, including baby food, resulted in our younger son being compelled to grow up overnight and ‘eat porridge’ like the three of us. It is now even more challenging following the birth of our third (hopefully, the last) child and baby girl, whose food budget is five-fold when compared with that of her elder brothers.
Smangele Shaba, from Thokoza who runs a day care centre, had his to say:
“Unfortunately, like everyone else, we are also caught up in the snare of high cost of food. As much as we buy everything in bulk, ranging from maize meal to flour and sugar, from cooking oil to butter and peanut butter, from fresh milk to white meat, to fish and vegetables, these days there is nothing that lasts for long.
“With the high cost of basic foods, I am afraid we would be forced sooner than later, to also increase our fees to keep up with the cost of living, which will impact negatively on their already tight household budgets of families who are also our clients,” said Shaba.
Sipho Motaung, from Zonk’izizwe: “Food has become such an expensive necessity for almost everyone, especially unemployed people jwale ka nna (like myself) who have no income.
“My fears are that in the near future we would be forced to buy basic vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes, carrots and beetroot, not by the bag but as single units. In case you might think I am out of my mind, just take a look at a plastic bag of potatoes that costs, say, R7 and count the potatoes inside. You will count between five-to-seven potatoes. Does that mean a single potato costs R1?
“A few years ago, most of us used to make a list of what to buy from the supermarket, but I, for one, have stopped making lists because you are not sure what food items would now cost you, until you are there. That is why wise people say ‘you can only cross the bridge when you come to it’.
“Supermarkets do not give us consumers the so-called ‘warning shot’ regarding food price increases. In the late afternoon you buy a specific item at a specific price, and the next morning the price of the same item has gone up, just in one night. That is daylight robbery.”
Lorraine Hadebe, from Thokoza: “Thando, my little girl and only child will be 10 years this Saturday. That is why you see this chocolate cake I have bought for her celebration party. I paid R59.99 for it, which is the same as R60 because a cent does not mean anything and there is nothing you can buy with it.”
Malifi Moreri, from Spruitview: “This high cost of food has reduced us to being miserly communities. It has turned us away from ubuntu-botho.
“Due to these highly challenging times of very high food prices, we are forced to give our visitors a drink of orange squash diluted with water and a few biscuits, while praying and hoping they would not spend the night with us.”
