Bad news for braai lovers in South Africa
While food inflation in South Africa is easing, the latest Braai Index shows that prices are still rising, taking a bruising from high energy prices.
The index, which tracks a basket of food items used when hosting a braai, increased by 1.7% between April and May 2026, reflecting the increasing price pressure.
This is a second-round effect from the ongoing Iran War, which caused a massive surge in energy and fuel prices in April and May 2026.
However, year-on-year, the overall basket is 0.4% lower than in May 2025.
Notably, this is in the context of May 2025 itself experiencing global volatility, as the Trump Administration at the time waged its trade tariff war amid local political instability that impacted economic fundamentals.
Thus, even though the basket is marginally lower than a year ago, it reflects higher prices across both periods.
The Braai Index is compiled monthly by BusinessTech using pricing data from the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity (PMBEJD) group. The index’s methodology originated with Bloomberg.
The PMBEJD’s data reflects real “on the ground” pricing across South Africa’s major provinces and includes the items found in the shopping baskets of the majority of South African households.
The index, in turn, tracks the prices of a selection of essential items typically used for a South African braai, offering a more focused view of inflation at the grill.
The basket includes meat (beef, wors, chicken portions), vegetables (spinach, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, green pepper) and others (samp, maize, curry powder, salt).
Because the index is based on PMBEJD data and the group does not include other protein types like pork or lamb, these alternatives are not included in the analysis.
Stats SA’s latest inflation data (for April) lags the PMBEJD pricing by around a month.
Headline inflation in April spiked to 4.0% off the back of higher fuel prices that month. With May seeing a second massive jump in fuel prices, CPI inflation is expected to elevate further in the May figures.
Cumulatively, South Africa has seen increases of R6.29/litre for petrol and R12.60/litre for diesel over the past two months.
Annual inflation for food & non-alcoholic beverages (NAB) decreased for a third consecutive month, from 3.6% in March to 2.9% in April.
This could reverse as the second-round effects of the higher fuel costs start kicking in.
Stats SA also noted that the continuing pressure from the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in the country is still being reflected in higher meat prices.
Meat prices recorded an inflation of 9.4% for April. In the May Braai Index Basket, meat prices are still showing elevated y/y increases, though slightly lower than last month.
Braai Index Trend to May 2026
May 2026 vs April 2026 [+1.7%]
May 2026 vs May 2025 [-0.4%]
Loading ...