{"id":730673,"date":"2023-11-13T07:44:32","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T05:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=730673"},"modified":"2023-11-13T07:44:32","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T05:44:32","slug":"bad-news-for-braai-time-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/730673\/bad-news-for-braai-time-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad news for braai time in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Johannesburg\u2019s buzzy student enclave of Braamfontein, the rising price of potatoes is undermining its communal eating culture as people snack solo to save money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chips, as fried potatoes are called here, are a staple in South Africa, often simply eaten with bread or inside a kota \u2013 a hollowed-out quarter loaf that\u2019s then generously stuffed with layers of fillings like cheese, egg, sausage and tomato ketchup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a 10 kilo (22 pound) bag of potatoes, Tlou Boshomane, who owns a shop selling snacks across from the University of Witwatersrand, must now pay 140 to 150 rand ($7.5-$8) \u2013 twice the price of a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boshomane was forced to slim portion sizes to protect his profit margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more about re-looking at the menu, re-engineering portions and pricing,\u201d he said, adding that he\u2019s seeing an impact of the dining habits of his customers, with fewer people buying to share. \u201cThe more prices go higher, culture changes also, of eating, of consuming,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s annual inflation rate has declined from a peak of 7.8% last year to 5.4% in September. But food inflation remains high at 8% and the central bank has repeatedly warned of the threats posed by persistent price pressures from the sustenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poor Pinched<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A burden felt most by poorer households \u2014 who spend a larger share of their income on feeding their families \u2014 making the anxiety over the high cost of living a potent part of the political conversation ahead of next year\u2019s general election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Bloomberg\u2019s Shisa Nyama Index, which tracks the prices of key ingredients in a traditional barbecue consumed in South African townships, the cost of potatoes surged 40% month-on-month in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crunching data from the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity group, the gauge includes potatoes, cooking oil, corn meal, carrots, tomatoes, frozen chicken, beef and wors \u2014 a tasty sausage made from ground meat offcuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The overall index rose 17% last month<\/strong>, up from 12.5% in September. South African consumer price data for October will be released on Nov. 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To compile its survey, the group tracks the prices of 44 food items on the shelves of 47 supermarkets and 32 butcheries that target the low-income market in the greater areas of Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg, Springbok in the far northwest and the far north-eastern town of Mtubatuba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usiphile Ndimande, a student who usually eats with friends, has considered lunching on his own but worries he\u2019ll come up short either way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you go it alone it\u2019s going to hurt financially,\u201d Ndimande said. \u201cIt\u2019s better if there\u2019s more of us. But if you do, you don\u2019t get full. You lose both ways.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Read: Warning over food prices in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bloomberg’s latest braai index shows that prices are shooting up, making South Africa’s favourite pastime a costly affair. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":646241,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-730673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=730673"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":730685,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730673\/revisions\/730685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}