Germiston residents affected by Avian flu after egg prices increase

The cost of basic food items continues to rise and many people are starting to feel the pinch.

Many are still finding their feet after the Covid pandemic but the cost of living is not making it easy to survive.

The bird flu has hit South Africa hard.

Eggs are South Africa’s hottest commodity with other basic items like potatoes also getting expensive.

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Supplies of poultry meat have been threatened and supermarkets across the nation have run out of eggs.

The egg shortage has caused the popular ingredient to jump in price – far from ideal considering it is one of the most affordable sources of protein.

GCN spoke to small businesses in Germiston on how the shortage of eggs has affected them.

Baker Selinah Mbokane has been baking and selling scones for over 22 years and said the egg shortage is crippling the business.

“We are feeling the price hikes of eggs as bakers but we need to buy them because we need them for our product. Most of the profit goes to buying ingredients,” said Mbokane.

She said even the flour and sugar are getting expensive.

“It is difficult on us because this is our livelihood. We continue to buy because we have customers that support us but things need to turn around soon or we are not going to survive,” said Mbokane.

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Mbali Manyeza, who started selling chickens during the Covid pandemic, said this business is very profitable but now they are struggling.

“We can easily sell 800 chickens in a week, but now we are lucky to sell 200. The suppliers are inconsistent with the supply of chicken. Sometimes you drive to Vosloorus only to come back with 40 chickens,” said Manyeza.

She said for now they are just weathering the storm as they don’t know when it’s going to end.

“Business is slow but because we know the area and people we sell to rely on us we keep going. It is worrying to see a once-striving business struggling like this.

“We have been doing this business for two years,” said Manyeza.

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She said they used to have an unlimited supply of eggs.
“Now eggs are like gold,” said Manyeza.

Another item that has seen a price hike is potatoes. Famous Miwale started selling veggies after losing his job during the pandemic and said the business is struggling.

“We used to buy a 10kg bag for R60 and now I spend R160 a bag and that is expensive.

“When I increase prices customers complain or don’t buy. I need to make a profit to survive. If the situation does not change we might not be able to continue selling,” said Miwale.