Lockdown food prices up 30%

LONG TERM: UNLIKELY TO BE ANY RESPITE SOON

Basket of essentials in May, costs more than national monthly minimum wage.

Food prices have increased by as much as 30% during the lockdown, according to research by a KwaZulu-Natal-based organisation, and things could get even worse.

The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group has tracked the cost of a basket of food, and how prices have changed over the past three months.

The latest report was released in the final week of May and if the trends it observed continue, consumers could be in for a very bad time financially.

Plus, the Automobile Association, commenting on unaudited data released by the Central Energy Fund on Monday, said it expected the price of all grades of petrol to rise by R1.59 a litre, diesel by R1.48 and illuminating paraffin by R1.94.

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has reportedly said she never expected the impact of Covid-19 to be so economically destructive.

This just weeks after going up against nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) which bemoaned the increase of people needing assistance while her department attempted to centralise donations and food distribution by blocking NGOs from helping the needy.

The group’s research also found that although an increase in social grants had helped, it was not enough to buffer the price hikes.

During the first month, it saw an increase in the price of its food basket of 5.8% (R187.08, from R3 221 to R3 408).

Vegetables:

Potatoes, onions, carrots, butternuts, spinach, cabbages;

Core staples:

Rice, sugar beans, cooking oil, salt, white bread, brown bread Other:

Maas, Cremora, pilchards, margarine, apricot jam

Things have only got worse. The report for May showed the prices of basic food items had increased by an average of 30%, with a family now paying approximately R3 470.92 for the basket of items, an increase of R249.92 (7.8%) on pre-lockdown prices.

It reached the average increase of 30% by also assuming shoppers were less likely to shop around for better prices.

The usual food basket included average prices over five supermarkets and four butcheries.

The group said the difference in prices between the highest-priced shops and the lowest, as well as the difference between the closest lowest prices in the lowest-priced shops were averaged.

“Whilst food prices have increased by 7.8%, the additional spend on food and not being able to shop around for food suggests that households may be spending 30% (R973.93) more on food.”

“The food price increases we are seeing in Pietermaritzburg are considerable. A 7.8% or additional R250 cost on a basic basket of core staple foods over the past two months for families living on low incomes is a serious financial shock.

“The basket on 4 May is R3 470.92. This is more than the national minimum wage [R3 321.60] of a worker who still has a job, is paid at the maximum level of R20.76 an hour for an eight-hour day and is allowed to work for the full number of working days [20] in May 2020.”

This has not been the case, with several industries, and tens of thousands of South Africans not earning or earning reduced wages.

Restaurants and personal care services are among businesses which might be able to reopen under Advanced Level 3 regulations, which Minister of Small Business Development Khumbudzo Ntshavheni announced on Monday.

Ntshavheni stressed that this new phase was not a move to Level 2, but only an allowance for the reopening of “industries requiring extra protocols”.

She said it were waiting for the Health Advisory Council to okay the regulations and the industries which stand to benefit included hairdressers, massage therapists, nail and manicure services and some sectors of the hospitality industry.

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