{"id":765769,"date":"2024-04-04T12:15:41","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T10:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=765769"},"modified":"2024-04-04T13:17:34","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T11:17:34","slug":"the-cities-where-south-africans-pay-the-most-for-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/765769\/the-cities-where-south-africans-pay-the-most-for-food\/","title":{"rendered":"The cities where South Africans pay the most for food"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The average cost of household grocery baskets has seen a substantial increase over recent years, with noticeable price variations observed across various South African cities and towns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This observation is evident in the fact that Johannesburg, Springbok, and Mtubatuba each display food baskets that exceed the national average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/pmbejd.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/March-2024-Household-Affordability-Index-PMBEJD_27032024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">March 2024 Household Affordability Index<\/a> by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice &amp; Dignity group (PMBEJD). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The index tracks the prices of 44 basic foods from 47 supermarkets and 32 butcheries in low-income areas across Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg, Mtubatuba, and Springbok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The supermarkets and butcheries selected&#8230; are those which most households, in the areas in which they live, do their shopping in, and which offer the cheapest\/or most affordable prices,&#8221; said the PMBEJD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The PMBEJD said that that price cannot be &#8220;considered the basket for every family living on a low income,&#8221; however can be &#8220;considered a reasonable proxy for a food basket which [participants] identified as including the most important typical foods which most households try and buy each month, given affordability constraints.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the index, countrywide average South African household food basket for March 2024 costs R311.72 more than it did in March 2023 &#8211; bringing the total to R5,277.93.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-businesstech wp-block-embed-businesstech\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"mxpPiRsGgW\"><a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/764009\/food-prices-continue-to-climb-in-south-africa-with-19-items-seeing-a-double-digit-increase-2\/\">Food prices continue to climb in South Africa \u2013 with 19 items seeing a double-digit increase<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Food prices continue to climb in South Africa \u2013 with 19 items seeing a double-digit increase&#8221; &#8212; BusinessTech\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/764009\/food-prices-continue-to-climb-in-south-africa-with-19-items-seeing-a-double-digit-increase-2\/embed\/#?secret=EgXEquWxVw#?secret=mxpPiRsGgW\" data-secret=\"mxpPiRsGgW\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The different cities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking at the different cities, consumers in Springbok in the Northern Cape would have to dig the deepest into their pockets when paying at the tills, sporting a 5.2% monthly and 8% annual increase in their total food bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is contrasted with Maritzburg, which sports an average food basket that is over R150 below the national average. However, it is still a couple hundred rand more than what they were paying last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><div class=\"table-responsive\"><table class=\"table\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Area<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong>March 2023 average basket<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong>March 2024 average basket<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong>Change<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Countrywide<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R4 966.21<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R5 277.93<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">+6.3%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Johannesburg<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R5 020.21<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R5 387.28<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">+7.3%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Durban <\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R4 871.40<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R5 244.11<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">+7.7%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Cape Town<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R4 927.77<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R5 158.61<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">+4.7%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Springbok<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R5 430.03<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R5 862.74<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">+7.97%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Maritzburg<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R4 892.35<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R5 122.13 <\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">+4.7%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Mtubatuba<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R5 150.38<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">R5 375.88<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">+4.4%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice &amp; Dignity group March 2023 &amp; 24 reports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest report from February 2024 by Statistics South Africa shows that inflation, was 5.6%. For people who spend the least, prices went up more &#8211; between 5.9% and 6.9%. Food prices went up by 6.0% while agricultural products went up by 6.5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Too pricy for many<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Important to note is that the research shows that most South Africans, across all provinces, who earn a minimum wage cannot afford an adequate amount of food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The maximum National Minimum Wage for a general worker currently sits at R4,192.16, while the March 2024 cost of a basic nutritional food basket for a family of four persons is R3,694.62.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, electricity, and transport, takes up an average of 57.9% of a worker\u2019s wage (those earning minimum wage) (R2 426,92\/R4 192,16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This leaves R1,765.24 for food and all other costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PMBEJD calculates that workers\u2019 families will underspend on food by a minimum of 52.2%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;In this scenario, there is no possibility of a worker being able to afford enough nutritious food for their family,&#8221; said the PMBEJD. &#8220;If the entire R1,765.24 all went to buy food, then for a family of 4 persons, we are looking at R441.31 per person per month &#8211; below the food poverty line of R760,&#8221; they added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/760591\/heres-how-much-food-prices-have-shot-up-in-south-africa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Here\u2019s how much food prices have shot up in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While food prices in South Africa in general continue to rise, certain cities are seeing much higher increases than others &#8211; leaving many unable to afford their essentials. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":728993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[10839,7530,14061],"class_list":["post-765769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-food-prices","tag-inflation","tag-pietermaritzburg-economic-justice-dignity-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765769","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\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765769"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":765867,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765769\/revisions\/765867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/728993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}