* This story was first published in the Cape Argus newspaper on Friday, August 26.
Cape Town - The main ingredients for a hearty beef stew or a chicken curry rose on average by more than R5 between July 2021 and July this year, along with the increased costs of the electricity to cook it with and the petrol to drive to the shops and back.
Statistics SA (StatsSA) during the past week released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) including information on how inflation price changes in that time affected the average prices for selected food products.
The data showed that with the inflation rate now at 7.8 % consumers are battling to survive as the price of food, transport and utilities continues to increase. Meanwhile unions and analysts have said these essentials are fast becoming unaffordable for the average person.
A kilo of beef chuck cost R9.77 more in July 2022 than it did in July 2021 when it was R99.52. A 2kg pack of frozen chicken pieces shot from R83.28 to R88.63 while a 750ml bottle of cooking oil went from R28.59 to R45.33.
The data showed that only the price of a kilo of rice bucked the trend, with the cost dropping from R30.99 to R25.56.
Statistician General Risenga Maluleke said: “Consumers are feeling the pinch, particularly for those items bought most frequently, such as food, drink, electricity, fuels, and medicine.”
Stats SA said electricity tariffs increased on average by 7.5%, equivalent to the benchmark approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) and that while this increase was lower than last year’s rise of 13.8% it was higher than the 2020 increase of 6.3%.
Together with the rise in electricity tariffs, consumers also had to deal with further fuel price increases with transport costs fuel now 56.2% more expensive than it was 12 months ago.
Taxi fares jumped in July too, rising by 9% from June and taking the annual rate to 16.4%.
Trade union UASA spokesperson Abigail Moyo said that although fuel prices had dropped significantly in the past month, this price drop was never passed on to consumers who had to get to work and back.
Moyo said: “Thousands of South Africans want to find jobs but can barely afford to go for interviews, while they should be able to contribute to the household expenses.”
Fedusa General Secretary Riefdah Ajam urged the government to fast track reforms of the fuel levy, urgently fix the public transport system, in particular the passenger rail network (Prasa), and implement the Basic Income Grant.
“The government must also implement measures to reduce the ever increasing food prices and ensure food security.”
Looking ahead, Absa analyst Miyelani Maluleke said he thought headline inflation had reached its peak but that the descent could be slow with disinflation in fuel offsetting food inflation over the coming months.