{"id":868618,"date":"2026-08-04T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=868618"},"modified":"2026-08-04T13:47:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T11:47:06","slug":"bad-news-for-braai-lovers-in-south-africa-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/868618\/bad-news-for-braai-lovers-in-south-africa-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad news for braai lovers in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Although food inflation in South Africa continues to slow, the latest Braai Index indicates that prices are still rising due to sustained pressure from higher energy costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The index, which tracks a basket of food items used for hosting a braai, increased by 0.9% between June and July 2026, reflecting rising price pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the increase was modest, it is consistent with the average household food basket reported by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity (PMBEJD) group, which rose by 0.5% from June 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main factor driving recent price increases is the rise in energy and fuel costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This surge is a direct second-round effect of the Iran War, which led to a significant spike in global energy and fuel prices between April and June 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the war appeared to settle down in July, prices spiked mid-month as the conflict flared up once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless, the sharp spikes earlier in the year continued to affect supply chains and influence retail food prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This fuel-driven pressure was also the primary reason behind South Africa’s headline inflation rising to 4.5% in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Braai Index is compiled monthly by BusinessTech using pricing data from the PMBEJD group. Its methodology originated from Bloomberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PMBEJD’s data reflect actual prices across South Africa’s major provinces and include items typically found in the shopping baskets of most South African households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The basket consists of meat (beef, wors, chicken portions), vegetables (spinach, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, green peppers), and other items (samp, maize, curry powder, salt). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to note that the index is based on data from PMBEJD, which excludes other protein sources like pork and lamb; therefore, these alternatives are not included in the analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July, the main upward drivers for the braai basket included maize meal, which increased by R12.93; frozen chicken portions, which increased by R10.56; tomatoes, rising by R7.04; and Wors, which rose by R6.22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These price increases were partially offset by significant drops in the prices of certain vegetables, particularly carrots, which decreased by R9.52, and onions, which dropped by R6.16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Braai Index July 2026 Month-on-Month [+0.9%<\/mark>]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Braai Index July 2026 Year-on-Year [+2.6%<\/mark>]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The official Consumer Price Index (CPI) report by Stats SA for July 2026 is scheduled for publication on August 19, 2026, with a one-month lag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2026, headline inflation unexpectedly surged to 5.0%, marking its highest level since June 2024, when it reached 5.1%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This increase in inflation can be attributed to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which resulted in a 34.3% annual rise in fuel prices, alongside significant increases in minibus taxi fares, which rose by 11.5% in June alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation continued to decline, moderating to 1.6% in June, while prices for white rice fell by 13.4%, and maize meal fell by 5.9%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unexpectedly high inflation rate in June has led to speculation that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) may maintain elevated interest rates or raise them further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While food inflation continues to slow, the latest Braai Index shows that prices are still rising.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":858952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2084610564257362223","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2166466260840440","_sma_instagram_post_id":"17868643755593981","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[21654,19982],"class_list":["post-868618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-braai-index","tag-pietermaritzburg-economic-justice-dignity-group-pmbejd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868618","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\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868618"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":868696,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868618\/revisions\/868696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}