Wages still lag food

NUTRITION: BASKET PRICES RISE 1%, MOST FAMILIES POORLY FED

- Ina Opperman

While consumers are already battling January with its host of new expenses such as school uniforms and books, low-income consumers also had to pay almost 1% more in January for the household food basket.

Key data from the January 2025 Household Affordability Index compiled by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group shows that the average cost of the household food basket was R5 433.70 in the first month of the year, an increase of R50.32 (0.9%) and R108.84 (2%) more than in January 2024.

Women from low-income communities track the prices of 44 basic food items for the Household Affordability Index at 47 supermarkets and 32 butcheries where they shop in Johannesburg (Soweto, Alexandra, Tembisa and Hillbrow), Durban (KwaMashu, Umlazi, Isipingo, Durban CBD, Hammarsdale and Pinetown), Cape Town (Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Philippi, Langa, Delft and Dunoon), Pietermaritzburg, Mtubatuba and Springbok.