The battle continues for low-income South Africans to afford nutritious food.
The average price of the household food basket was stable in July, decreasing by 41 cents from June, but it is clear that the price of meat is eating into the budgets of low-income consumers.
According to the household food basket, compiled by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group, the household food basket cost R5 442.72 in July, 41 cents more than in June when it cost R5 443.12, but R190.57 (3.6%) more than in July last year, when it cost R5 252.15.
The household food basket is part of the Household Affordability Index compiled by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group from a survey of prices of 44 basic foods from 47 supermarkets and 32 butcheries.
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The survey is conducted by women from low-income communities in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg, Mtubatuba in Northern KwaZulu-Natal and Springbok in the Northern Cape at shops where they shop for their families.
Price trends in household food basket
Key data from the July 2025 Household Affordability Index shows that the price of 17 of the 44 food items in the household food basket cost more, while 26 food items cost less, while the price of one item stayed the same.
Food items in the household food basket that cost more than 5% more than last month include beef (8%), beef tripe (7%) and butternut (20%), while food items that cost between 2% and 5% more, include: full cream milk (3%), chicken feet (4%), chicken gizzards (4%), beef liver (3%), wors (3%), fish (3%), cabbage (2%), polony (4%) and brown bread (4%).
The survey shows that food items in the household food basket that cost at least 5% less, include maize meal (-5%), salt (-6%), carrots (-5%), spinach (-6%), bananas (-13%), oranges (-15%) and peanut butter (-5%).
Food items that cost between 2% and 5% less, include: cake flour (-2%), white sugar (-2%), sugar beans (-2%), cooking oil (-2%), potatoes (-4%), onions (-3%), eggs (-3%), apples (-3%), margarine (-2%) and apricot jam (-2%).
The average price of the household food baskets Johannesburg (R7.58 more), Durban (R45.87 more) and Mtubatuba (R60.32) cost more than in June, while the baskets cost less in Cape Town (R25.88 less) Springbok (R36.93 less) and Pietermaritzburg (R54.43 less).
Statistics South Africa’s latest Consumer Price Index for June shows that headline inflation was 3.0% and 4.7% for expenditure quintile 1, for quintile 2 it is 4.1% and 3.7% for quintile 3. Food inflation was 4.7%.
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Food basket unaffordable for those earning minimum wage
While these prices do not seem too high for middle-class consumers, it is not easy for workers who earn the national minimum wage of R28.79 per hour, or R230.32 for an 8-hour day and R4 836.72 for an average 21-day working month.
July had 23 working days, which means that the maximum wage for a general worker was R5 297.36. Workers work to support their families and therefore the wage they earn is not just to sustain themselves alone but support the entire family, Mervyn Abrahams, programme coordinator at the group, says.
He points out that for black South African workers, one wage must typically support four people. Dispersed in a worker’s family of four, the wage is R1 324.34 per person, far below the upper-bound poverty line of R1 634 per person per month.
With the average cost of a basic nutritional food basket for a family of four costing R3 755.87 in July, using the Pietermaritzburg 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 57% (R3 021.85) of a worker’s wage.
Workers only buy food after paying for transport and electricity, leaving R2 275.51 for food and everything else. Workers’ families will then underspend on food by a minimum of 39.4%.
Abrahams says in this scenario there is no possibility of a worker being able to afford enough nutritious food for her family. If she used the entire R2 275.51 to buy food, it would provide R568.88 per person per month for a family of four, again far below the food poverty line of R796 per person per month.
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Cost of feeding a child nutritious food
It gets even more difficult for low-income consumers to feed their children nutritious food. The average monthly cost to feed a child a basic nutritious diet was R957.41 in July, after a decrease of R13.48 (-1.4%), but R21.70 (2.3%) more than a year ago.
Abrahams points out that the child support grant of R560 is 30% below the food poverty line of R796 and 42% below the average monthly cost to feed a child a basic nutritious diet (R957.41).
Workers must then also put money aside for household domestic and personal hygiene products that cost R1 021.56 in July. Abrahams says basic hygiene products are expensive but are part of the monthly groceries and therefore compete in the household purse with food as these products are essential for good health and hygiene as well as dignity.
