Food costs rising faster than minimum wage

A worker earning the national minimum wage would have barely 50% of the income needed to feed a family of four a basic nutritious diet after paying for transport and electricity.

That's according to the latest October Household Affordability Index.

The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group (PMBEJD), which released the index on Wednesday, calculated that a general employee working eight hours on each of October’s 22 working days would earn R5,320.48.

Under its model, transport and electricity would absorb R3,375.45, or 63.4% of that income, leaving R1,945.03. A basic nutritional food basket for four people cost R3,828.72, leaving a food shortfall of R1,883.69, or 49.2%.

The calculation illustrates the pressure on households even as annual increases in the group’s household food basket remain relatively modest.

The average cost of that basket reached R5,512.53 in October, up 0.4% from September and 1.3% from a year earlier. The index tracks 44 basic foods at 52 supermarkets and 36 butcheries across seven areas, including Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and several smaller centres.

Although 27 foods became cheaper during the month and only 17 increased in price, sharp rises in some vegetables pushed the overall basket higher.

Butternut rose 26%, onions 11% and tomatoes 10%. Oranges and margarine each increased by 6%. Price declines included spinach, down 10%, and soup and cabbage, both down 5%. Maize meal and frozen chicken portions each fell 2%.

Regional movements varied considerably. Mtubatuba recorded the largest monthly basket increase, at R199.47, followed by Johannesburg at R87.70 and Durban at R51.60. Pietermaritzburg recorded the largest decline, at R123.76.

Children’s nutrition also remained under pressure. PMBEJD put the average monthly cost of feeding a child a basic nutritious diet at R975.66, an increase of 3.2% over the year.

The R580 monthly child support grant was about 41% below that cost and 33% below the R868 national food poverty line cited in the release.

PMBEJD also cautioned that its household food basket should not be confused with a nutritionally complete diet. It reflects the foods that households on low incomes try to buy, while its separate basic nutritional basket is designed by a registered dietitian to meet nutritional requirements.

For a seven-member household, the nutritional basket cost R6,692.25 in October, R1,179.72 more than the household food basket.

According to the group, that gap indicates that the nutritional hardship facing families is deeper than the headline household basket figure alone suggests.

Sources: PMBEJD, Key Data from October 2026 Household Affordability Index, 28 October 2026, supplied release. Wage, grant and poverty-line figures are as cited in the release.