Low-income consumers are still battling to put nutritious food on their families’ plates although the household food basket was cheaper.
Key data from the August Household Affordability Index’s household food basket shows that food prices decreased on average in August, but that unfortunately does not mean that low-income consumers can now afford to eat more nutritious food.
The data for the household food basket, which forms part of the Household Affordability Index, is compiled by low-income consumers at the shops where they shop for their families.
They track the prices of 44 basic food items at 47 supermarkets and 32 butcheries 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).
The survey, done on behalf of the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group, shows that the average cost of the household food basket was R5 380.62 in August, R62.10 (-1.1%) less than in July when it cost R5 442.72 and R153.48 (2.9%) more than a year ago when it cost R5 227.14.
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Food pricing trends in household food basket
The food pricing trends in August showed that 23 of the food items cost more in August, while 21 food items decreased in price. Food items in the basket that cost more than 5% more include soup (5%), beef tripe (6%) and peanut butter (6%).
Food items in the basket which increased in price between 2% and 5% include samp (2%), stock cubes (2%), full cream milk (3%), chicken feet (3%), beef liver (3%), butternut (3%), green pepper (4%) and polony (4%).
The prices of food items in the basket that decreased by 5% or more include potatoes (-9%), onions (-15%), wors (-5%), tomatoes (-12%), carrots (-16%), spinach (-6%), cabbage (-6%) and bananas (-6%), while the prices of food items that decreased by between 2% and 5% include: rice (-4%), sugar beans (-2%), Cremora (-3%), oranges (-4%) and brown bread (-2%).
The household food basket also did not cost the same everywhere.
The average prices for the household food baskets in Springbok (R27.62 more) and Pietermaritzburg (R69.93 more) increased.
On the other hand, the prices of the household food baskets in Johannesburg (R108.44 less), Durban (R105.01 less), Cape Town (R59.76 less) and Mtubatuba (R96.68 less) were cheaper.
It is important to remember that what seems to middle-class consumers to be a small decrease, for a low-income consumer means another loaf or two of bread for the month or an extra bag of samp or maize meal.
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This is how much low-income earners earn – not enough to afford the household food basket
This is especially important for low-income workers who earn the Minimum Wage of R28.79 per hour, R230.32 for an 8-hour day and R4 836.72 for an average 21-day working month. In August, with 21 working days, the maximum National Minimum Wage for a general worker was R4 836.72.
These workers work to support their families as the wages they earn are not just to sustain themselves but to support the entire family, which on average consists of four people for Black South African workers.
Dispersed in a worker’s family of four, the national minimum wage is R1 209.18 per person, far below the upper-bound poverty line of R1 634 per person per month. Compare this to the average cost of a basic nutritional food basket for a family of four, which costs R3 699.35, to see how dire the situation is for poor people.
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Stretching one wage to feed four people from household food basket
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 took up 59.2% (R2 681.85) of a worker’s wage of R4 836.72.
They only buy food after paying for transport and electricity, leaving R1 974.87 for food and everything else, underspending on food by a minimum of 46.6%.
Mervyn Abrahams, programme coordinator for the group, points out that in this scenario, there is no possibility for a worker to afford enough nutritious food for her family.
“If the entire R1 974.87 all went to buy food for a family of four, it would provide R493.72 per person per month, again far below the food poverty line of R796 per person per month.”
The picture is even worse for women with children. In August, the average monthly cost to feed a child a basic nutritious diet was R943.13, R14.28 less than in July but R3.50 more than in August 2024.
In August, the Child Support Grant of R560 was 30% below the Food Poverty Line of R796 and 41% below the average monthly cost to feed a child a basic, nutritious diet of R943.13, making it difficult for women to feed the children they care for.
