THE latest household affordability index, released by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PMBEJD) on yesterday, painted a grim picture for South African families facing escalating food costs.

From February to March 2025, the cost of the essential household food basket increased marginally by R16.14, now totalling R5 329.36, a rise of 0.3%. Over the past year, the food basket's price has surged R51.43, or 1.0%, when compared to March 2024.

Representatives from civil society immediately sounded alarm bells as they reported that rising living costs were pushing communities further into the grips of poverty and food insecurity.

The PMBEJD pointed out that among the 44 items they track, 22 saw price increases this March, with core staples such as maize meal, rice, cake flour, white sugar, sugar beans, samp and cooking oil chief among them.

“This is problematic as these items take up proportionally the most money in the household purse, and are bought first,” said Mervyn Abrahams, PMBEJD's programme coordinator.

“This means that the diversity of the family diet is dependent on the total cost of the staple foods, as the more nutrient-rich foods like eggs, meats, dairy and vegetables, are only bought after the core staple foods have been secured.”

The PMBEJD highlighted that some staple food prices have risen significantly within March 2025. Onions saw a concerning hike of 5%, while carrots and butternut surged by 15% and 7%, respectively.

Meanwhile, cooking oil and various other staple items also saw price increases ranging from 2% to 4%. In contrast, some food prices dropped, notably potatoes and apples, dropping by as much as 10%.

The PMBEJD warned that while the prices of essential staples were climbing, the average basic nutritional food basket for a family of four costs R3 729.40.

This leaves many families struggling as they must allocate 57.4% of an average worker's wage towards electricity and transport before even considering the budget for food, resulting in a staggering underspend on food by at least 47.4%.

However, Abrahams said if the proposed zero-rating of certain foods did not come to pass, it could result in a possible saving but the potential saving was contingent on several factors.

This comes after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana proposed expanding the zero-rated basket to protect vulnerable households from the high cost of living and the possible VAT hike, earlier this month.

The expanded list of zero-rated foods includes canned vegetables, dairy liquid blends, and organ meats from sheep, poultry and other animals. If these items were to be zero-rated, then their price may be reduced to R458.18, a potential R68.73 savings.

“We do not know if zero-rating the foods as proposed by the Minister will be helpful,” he said.

“Zero-rating offal and not also frozen chicken portions, peanut butter and margarine, which will likely have been more helpful to households in terms of proving better and more common sources of protein and fats – may have a better chance of mitigating against the high cost of living and the possible VAT hike.

“It may also have sent a better message to South African households who struggle on low-incomes, and who have over the years turned to offal not generally as a preference, except for infrequent purchases, but out of necessity to try and source some type of cheaper protein for their families.”

Evashnee Naidu, regional manager for Black Sash in KwaZulu-Natal, said they were concerned about the continuous increase of food prices.

“These continuous increases are becoming unsupportable for poor households and pushed people to report into poverty,” she said.

“The proposed VAT increase, whilst looking at making certain food items free from VAT, fails to recognise the additional burden it will place on poor households and to make tough choices about what they eat and if they eat at all.”

Aliya Chikte, project officer at the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC), said although food inflation was slowing, the Household Food Basket remained out of reach for over half the population living below the Upper-Bound Poverty Line of R1 634 per month.

“At the same time, rates of moderate to severe hunger continue to climb. Despite growing attention on Early Childhood Development (ECD), persistently high food prices threaten to worsen stunting, impairing children’s physical growth and cognitive potential,” Chikte said.

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SA families face the harsh reality of rising food prices