THE latest household affordability index shows that September was painful for the poor as the average household food cost increased.
A report published by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group for the month ending September 30, revealed shocking developments, showing continuing escalation in the cost of living, exacerbating poverty and hunger among SA households.
This is after there was an increase 0.5%.
Basic and prioritised foods such as cooking oil, maize meal, sugar beans, and potatoes have been increased.
When the prices of basic foods increase, there is less money to secure other important – mostly nutritionally-rich foods, which are essential for health and well-being and strong immune systems and fruits.
The data showed that basic foods contribute 54% of the total cost of the household food basket. At an average cost of R2 860.84 in September 2024, these foods are very expensive in relation to the total money available in the household purse to secure food.
“These foods must be bought regardless of price escalations. The high cost of core staple foods results in a lot of proper nutritious food being removed from the family plates. The consequences of high costs on the core foods have a negative impact on overall household health and well-being, and child development,” read the report.
The cost of a basic nutritional food basket for a family of 7 members increased by R12.00, which is 0.2% from R6 433.59 in August 2024 to R6 445.59 in September 2024.
The average cost to feed a child a basic nutritious diet increased by R1.89 from R939.63 in August 2024 to R941.51 in September 2024.
The child support grant is R530, and the food poverty line calculated by statistics SA was R796 per capita per month.
The index stated that the child support grant was set below the food poverty line of R796 and further below the average cost of R941.51 to secure a basic nutritious diet for a child in September 2024.
The study also revealed that only one family member is employed in black South African households, and their wage supports a reductive average of 4.1 persons in September 2024.
The index added that households with low incomes are forced to secure non-negotiable expenses like transport and electricity before food. Other important expenses like debt servicing, scholar transport, education and burial insurance, including household domestic and personal hygiene products, also compete viciously in the purse.
Reacting to the index, the General Industries Workers Union of SA (GIWUSA) president Mametle Sebei argued that these figures did not reveal the whole picture, which, according to him, is more grim.
“If anything is taken at face value, the picture can be misleading as it may suggest that the rate of food inflation is beginning to slow down, as a result of 21 foods coming down in prices against 23 foods that went up.
“The food that went up included maize meal, which increased by 5%, potatoes and bananas by 11%, and tomatoes, by 10%, among other essential foods. These are stable foods, making up a disproportionately high portion of working-class diets and expenditures.
“So you will have to forgive workers and poor people for drowning with their shrill cries the champagnes and self-congratulations from the air-conditioned offices of the GNU (government of national unity),” Sebei said.
He further said: “The two are inhabiting two planets, with a huge gulf between them. Workers are consuming these local stables and produce, and the GNU ministers and middle-class supporters consume imported food, obviously benefiting from the lowering of many global commodity prices and strengthening rand.”
Sebei said the government's failure to address this crisis is unacceptable. He said this reflected a regime and elite out of touch with the cruel reality of the majority of the population they rule over.
Sebei also made a submission to the National Minimum Wage Commission to raise the minimum wage to R15 000 per month.
He also asked the commission to introduce a Universal Basic Income Grant to ensure that no one falls below the food poverty line.
Meanwhile, the South African Federation of Trade Unions said the working classes continue to languish in poverty – with hunger and utter destitution their daily reality. The union blamed the GNU for this escalation.
“Over thirty million of the country’s population live in poverty, defined as the upper bound poverty line of R992; although StatsSA consistently undercounts by 10% according to University of Cape Town researchers, leaving us to believe that two-thirds of our society can be considered poor. About twenty million people in South Africa are food insecure, and 27% of the children are malnourished.
“This unnecessary stunting – at a time of agricultural exports (mainly by corporate and white farms) that will exceed R200 billion in 2024, a new record – is a shameful reflection of capitalist market failure, with the most minimal, tokenistic state grants meant to mollify the starving masses.”
“The GNU has not announced an anti-poverty strategy or commitment to the redistribution of wealth (from the rich to the poor). In fact, the GNU monetary and fiscal policies – overseen by the International Monetary Fund thanks to conditions on the unnecessary 2020 loan of $4.3 billion – will continue to redistribute wealth from the poor to the rich,” the federation said.