Low-income households in South Africa continue to struggle to afford a basic, nutritious diet despite marginal declines in food prices.
This is according to the latest Household Affordability Index by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group (PMBEJD).
The March 2026 index shows that the cost of a basic nutritional food basket for a family of seven stood at R6,410.74, which is significantly higher than what many households actually spend.
“This shows that the difference in cost between the foods which families living on low incomes buy each month (a household food basket) and the foods families would like to buy and should buy to meet basic nutrition was R1,082.21 (R5,328.53 vs. R6,410.74),” the index found.
The data highlights the depth of food insecurity with families unable to meet minimum nutritional needs.
“It shows that as of March 2026, families living on low incomes may underspend on basic nutritional food by a minimum of 17% (R1,082.21). It means that the nutritional health and wellbeing of households is far worse than that shown by the household food basket and that the economic situation households face… is much deeper,” the index said.
While the cost of the basket declined slightly, dropping by R49.09 (-0.8%) month-on-month and by R99.01 (-1.5%) year-on-year, the relief has not translated into meaningful affordability gains.
The index shows that feeding a child a basic nutritious diet remains unaffordable for many families.
In March 2026, the average monthly cost to feed a child stood at R934.93, a slight decrease of R7.29 (-0.8%) from February and R16.07 (-1.7%) year-on-year.
The index also revealed that the child support grant continues to fall far short.
“In March 2026, the child support grant of R560 per month is 35% below the national food poverty line of R855 per month and 40% below the average monthly cost to feed a child a basic nutritious diet (R934.93),” it said.
Despite a 5% increase in the national minimum wage, the index found that workers still cannot afford basic living costs.
The minimum wage rose to R30.23 per hour in March, translating to about R5,320.48 per month for a general worker working 22 days, but most of this income is consumed by essential costs.
“On our calculations, electricity and transport will take up R2,941.85 (55.3%) of a worker’s wage in March 2026,” the index said.
After these expenses, workers are left with just R2,378.63, which is far below what is needed to feed a family.
“The minimum shortfall on food for a workers’ family in March 2026 is 35.1% (a shortfall of R1,289.09 on a basket of nutritional food costing R3,667.72),” the index said.
Even if all remaining income is spent on food, it still falls short of poverty benchmarks.
“For a family of four, it would provide R594.66 per person per month. This is 30% below the national food poverty line of R855 per person per month,” the index said.
The report also highlights the broader structural challenges facing workers, highlighting that a single wage often supports an entire household, which is typically four people in many black South African families.
When divided, the maximum monthly wage of R5,320.48 equates to just R1,330.12 per person.
This is below both the upper-bound poverty line of R2,846 and the lower-bound poverty line of R1,415 per capita.
According to Statistics South Africa, inflation kept relatively low, with headline inflation at 3.0% and food inflation at 3.7% in February 2026.
However, price movements within the food basket were uneven.
Items such as soup, tea, tomatoes, cabbage and peanut butter saw increases of 5% or more, while there were notable decreases for staples like rice, maize meal, potatoes and various meats.
Regionally, food basket prices declined in major cities, including Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, while Mthatha recorded an increase.
Despite slight price decreases, the index paints a stark picture of persistent food insecurity.
“Food is bought after monies for transport and electricity have been paid for or set aside,” the report noted, underscoring how basic services crowd out food spending.
TimesLIVE
