{"id":853208,"date":"2026-03-07T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=853208"},"modified":"2026-03-06T17:26:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T15:26:00","slug":"bad-turn-for-anyone-who-loves-to-braai-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/853208\/bad-turn-for-anyone-who-loves-to-braai-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad turn for anyone who loves to braai in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The latest Braai Index for February 2026 shows that year-on-year inflation for the braai basket is continuing to rise, marking an upward turn in inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The silver lining in the data is that the inflation basket dropped marginally month-on-month, and remains muted year-on-year, in line with the South African Reserve Bank’s new 3% target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the bad news is that the y\/y rate is trending upwards, with the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak still unresolved, and a key driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The index shows that the South African braai basket has increased 3% year-on-year, driven by increases for both the meat (beef and chicken) and veggie components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beef prices have risen 20.5% y\/y, after recording a significant 19.3% y\/y increase in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Braai Index is compiled monthly by BusinessTech using pricing data from the Pietermaritzburg Equity Justice and Dignity (PMBEJD) group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PMBEJD\u2019s data reflects real \u201con the ground\u201d pricing across South Africa\u2019s major provinces and includes the items found in the shopping baskets of the majority of South African households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The index includes meat (beef, wors, chicken portions), vegetables (spinach, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, green pepper) and others (samp, maize, curry powder, salt).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between January and February 2026, prices dropped slightly, with proteins in the basket easing slightly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, year-on-year beef prices continue on a double-digit path, following the rising trend seen since the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in April and May 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Month-on-month [-0.4%<\/mark>]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Year-on-year [+3.0%<\/mark>]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Meat price pain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Braai Index is heavily influenced by two proteins: beef and chicken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other proteins, such as pork and lamb, are not tracked in the PMBEJD basket and thus do not feature on the index.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Producers of these proteins have criticised the data presented in the index, noting that braai affordability could differ greatly if consumers choose alternative proteins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the beef industry is not the only industry facing strain, with producers warning that African Swine Fever (ASF) will hit pork prices in the coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warnings from the South African Pork Producers\u2019 Organisation (SAPPO) noted that the piggeries in the Free State, North West, KwaZulu-Natal and north-east Pretoria have been hit by swine flu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farmers have also been warned to remain alert for Rift Valley Fever, following the diagnosis of livestock with the virus in November 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While an outbreak has not occurred, heavy rainfall has sparked concerns about mosquitoes hatching en masse in livestock areas, which could spread the disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rift Valley Fever is a viral zoonosis, affecting primarily domestic livestock; it causes abortion and death of the animals. The disease is spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes to susceptible animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), there have been several isolated outbreaks of the disease; however, a widespread RVF epidemic occurred in South Africa in 2010-2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation is being closely monitored, with the vaccination of at-risk animals strongly advocated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest Braai Index shows an upward turn in the price of the basket, meaning pain before the coals in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":701303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[21654],"class_list":["post-853208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-braai-index"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853208","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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853208"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":853218,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853208\/revisions\/853218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}