workers Food prices of 12 basic items cheaper at Checkers

SA workers are under pressure due to rising food and transport costs. Picture: Supplied/JustMoney

Food prices spike in Joburg, Durban and PMB after unrest

“A 10% increase on basic food stuffs and a 14,95% increase on electricity will play havoc” – NGO on soaring SA food prices and unemployment

workers Food prices of 12 basic items cheaper at Checkers

SA workers are under pressure due to rising food and transport costs. Picture: Supplied/JustMoney

Food prices have soared in Johannesburg, Durban and Pietermaritzburg following the recent social unrest in these cities new research has revealed, prompting calls for emergency relief for the poor.

The latest Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group food price survey has shown that over the past month between July 2021 and August 2021 food prices rose in cities impacted by the unrest as follows:

  • The Durban Household Food Basket increased by R161,60 (3,9%) and now stands at R4 288,51.
  • The Joburg Household Food Basket increased by R143,27 (3,4%) and now stands at R4 331,13.
  • The Pietermaritzburg Household Food Basket increased by R128,33 (3,2%) and now stands at R4 093,00.

“The August 2021 data shows that all baskets, regardless of region, increased in August 2021, and that all baskets, including the average cost of the basket is at the highest level since we started tracking the household food basket in September 2020, 12 months ago,” PMBEJD programme coordinator Mervyn Abrahams said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the food price research the average cost of all household baskets has increased by R384,78 or 10% to R4 241,11 over the past 12 months.

“The food price spikes indicate that households are enduring great hardship and it is incumbent on the state to intervene.  At the very minimum the SRD (Social Relief of Distress) R350 grant must be paid out immediately, as well as The Destroyed, Affected or Looted Workplaces:  Temporary Financial Relief Scheme.  These measures are small and will not solve the problem but will help while the bigger economic questions are resolved,” he said.

Household living on low incomes, and workers earning low wages spend a very large portion of their incomes on food and electricity.  

“A 10% increase on basic food stuffs and a 14,95% increase on electricity will play havoc with the ability of households to function.  For workers who have recently lost their jobs in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, and families who have been barely holding on during the past two years, these spikes in the costs of basic needs will precipitate a massive crisis in homes.  Emergency relief is needed,” Abraham’s said.

He said the SRD Grant nor the Temporary Financial Relief Scheme had not yet been dispensed making life even more difficult for households to deal with soaring food prices.

“The delay in dispensing relief to households and workers affected by the unrest in July 2021 is resulting in unnecessary suffering.  The hardship that is being created now keeps the possibility of more unrest alive.  We are in the middle of an emergency food crisis.   It is critical that money gets to people as soon as possible,” he said.