Abu Muhammed | ym@radioislam.co.za
2 min read | 09:20 CAT
South Africans are struggling with recent massive increases in food, electricity, transport, and debt servicing costs.
Data from Household Affordability Index by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PMBEJD) shows that basic food like bread and milk contribute to 55% of the total cost of the Household Food Basket.
PMBEJD has been tracking the price of basic household items since June 2018. There has been a slight increase coming through every year, but from January this year, there has been a massive spike.
At the end of October, a food basket stood at R4877. This is an R470 or a 10,9% increase from October last year.
Mervyn Abrahams Programme Coordinator for PMBEJD said: “You cannot look at food in isolation. Most people tell us that food is the fourth item on the list of household priorities.”
The first is transport. Workers need to get to their work otherwise, they end up losing their job. Tax fares have gone up about 7%
The second is electricity or energy. Electricity has gone up about 10%
The third area is debt servicing. In many homes, money runs out after the second week and then people take out loans to pull through the month. If the debt is not services that will not be possible again in the future.
“Only after these things are sorted out are households able to spend money on buying food,” says Abrahams.
Listen to Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat interview Mervyn Abrahams of the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group.
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