South Africa: Fuel and Fertiliser Costs Drive Up the Price of a Basic Food Basket

By Lillian Roberts

Food producers' use of fuel and fertiliser - affected by the US-Iran war - will impact food prices in South Africa (SA), as the fuel price is set to increase again in May. However, it is not obvious whether input prices like oil and fertiliser are the only drivers of retail prices, as opportunistic 'rocket and feather' pricing by processors or retailers in some staples continued, even when producer prices fell, or stabilised.

Maverick Citizen has been tracking the prices of 14 basic food items that can be bought with the R370 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. Between March and April, the food basket increased by R16 to R423.86, mainly due to rice and cabbage, costing R10 and R5 more respectively. The food basket is R53 more expensive than the R370 SRD grant, making it unaffordable for grant recipients.

Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity's Household Affordability Index tracks 44 basic food items. In April, the household food basket cost R5,452.09, and has increased by R123.66 since March.

The basic nutritional basket with a household of seven members, on the other hand, amounts to R6,618.99.

As they note, 74.8% of black South Africans live below the upper-bound poverty line, which is R2,486 a month. This makes the basic food basket and the basic nutritional basket far out of reach for most people.

Bhungane Zibi (58) is a freelance journalist and SRD grant recipient from Mthatha. He recently started a Facebook page 'Living the R370 life' to dispel myths about how the grant is misused and to destigmatise social assistance.

Due to bank charges, he does not get the full amount every month....

Read the full story on Daily Maverick.

Copyright © 2026 Daily Maverick. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.