Overall cost of basic food items continues to outstrip support for SA grant recipients

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.

In the basket this month there were price decreases in staples such as white rice, and increases in curried powder, tea and flour. The overall cost of the Maverick Citizen basket is R378,87. This is more than the SRD grant and does not factor in transport costs involved in accessing the money, nor the data fees required for recipients to check their grant status for the next month.

The latest edition of the Household Affordability Index points out that even though there is a slight decrease in the household food basket, grant recipients are still not receiving enough to secure a basic nutritious diet.

The average cost of the items prioritised and bought first in the index’s food basket decreased by R7,92 (-0.3%) from R2,865.08 in September 2025 to R2,857.17 in October 2025.

This doesn’t include all 44 essential products that fall into the full basket. The full basket cost R5,440.60 in October, an increase of R61,18 from R5,379.42 in September.

“In October 2025, the Child Support Grant (R560) is 30% below the food poverty line (R796) and 41% below the average cost to secure a basic nutritious diet for a child (R945,04),” the index reads.

The Consumer Price Index reflected that inflation rates for food and non-alcoholic beverages were a mixed bag in September. Meat and maize meal inflation remained elevated, while price decreases were recorded for products such as milk, eggs and white rice.

Meat inflation 

The CPI states that meat inflation reached 11.7%, the highest annual rate since January 2018 (13.4%).

“While month-on-month increases for beef products have slowed, price levels remain high. Stewing beef, for example, recorded an annual rise of 32.2%, but no monthly change. Other meat categories are also feeling the heat. The annual rates for pork and lamb accelerated notably in September. Chicken inflation is also rising, albeit at a slower rate. IQF (individual quick frozen) chicken climbed to 5.0% from 4.4% in August, boosted by a monthly increase of 1.1%.”

The milk, other dairy products and eggs category is stable for the fourth consecutive month, with prices on average 1.6% lower than a year ago.

“Most varieties of milk were cheaper. For example, prices for fresh full-cream milk decreased by an annual 2.1%. Egg prices were also lower. The average price of a box of 18 eggs, for example, was R62,58 in September 2025, down from R69,36 in September 2024.”

Food prices and security 

The Shoprite Group released its annual South African Food Security Index in October, which is meant to monitor the country’s progress in addressing hunger and add to the research on this critical issue.

“The latest findings offer a glimmer of cautious optimism: the SA Food Security Index has risen to 56.5, up from 44.9 in 2023. While this improvement is encouraging, it remains below the 2019 score of 65.8, when hunger levels were notably lower,” the report reads.

The group said it used four key factors to measure food security: food availability, economic and physical access to food, diet diversity and stability.

The index noted that although food security was a complex problem, tackling food inflation and prices was a key step in creating access to diverse and nutritious food. 

“The causes of food insecurity are complex and multifaceted, rooted in economic conditions, government and agricultural policy, international price pressures, and other factors beyond the control of any single food retailer. Addressing this issue requires a whole-of-society approach,” it stated.

“It is truly troubling that hunger remains so pervasive in South Africa today, impacting at least one in 10 children.” DM