{"id":855929,"date":"2026-04-04T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=855929"},"modified":"2026-04-02T19:00:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:00:28","slug":"warning-for-braai-lovers-in-south-africa-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/855929\/warning-for-braai-lovers-in-south-africa-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning for braai lovers in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The latest Braai Index for March 2026 shows that year-on-year inflation for the braai basket is continuing to rise, despite month-on-month prices easing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the true battle lies ahead, with a massive R7 per litre hike to diesel prices in April threatening to send food inflation rocketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The March index shows that the South African braai basket has increased 1.1% year-on-year, driven by increases for both the meat (beef and chicken) and veggie components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is also far below the South African Reserve Bank’s inflation target of 3%, and the Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages (Food NAB) inflation tracked by Stats SA of 3.7% for February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beef prices have again risen by double digits, marking 16.5% y\/y, following significant increases of 20.5% y\/y and 19.3% y\/y in February and January, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in the year, economists warned that beef prices were likely to continue rising through April 2026 as the country’s Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak runs its course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Braai Index is compiled monthly by BusinessTech using pricing data from the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity (PMBEJD) group. The index’s methodology was originated by Bloomberg.<\/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 February and March 2026, prices dropped slightly, with beef showing the biggest drop. However, it is still a long way away from 2025’s pricing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

Month-on-month [-0.7%<\/mark>]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Year-on-year [+1.1%<\/mark>]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Food inflation surge is coming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the index for March points to flat and contained inflation, consumers have been warned to brace for higher prices in the months ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of the United States’ war against Iran in the Middle East, global energy markets have suffered a significant shock, sending fuel prices surging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 1 April, motorists saw petrol prices climb by R3.06 per litre, while diesel users\u2014including industry\u2014have seen prices surge past R7 per litre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These prices are already projected to deliver an inflation shock for April, with economists expecting CPI to spike to around 4.5%, which will undoubtedly filter through the economy, including in food prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real problem for consumers is that this is not a temporary shock; May is already building for another massive fuel price increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When taken with the already strained meat industry, the fuel price shock is likely to compound the problems and lead to even higher costs at the coals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest Braai Index shows that prices for South Africa’s favourite pastime have eased ever so slightly\u2014but April’s fuel price spike is coming to spoil the party.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":855931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[21654,14664],"class_list":["post-855929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-braai-index","tag-pmbejd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855929","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=855929"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":855941,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855929\/revisions\/855941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}