South African workers earning the national minimum wage are being forced to drastically underspend on food, leaving families unable to afford a basic nutritious diet. This is according to the December 2025 Household Affordability Index released by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group (PMBEJD). The index found the average cost of a basic nutritional food basket for a family of four stood at R3,678.87 in December, while transport and electricity costs consumed more than 60% of a worker’s monthly wage.
“On our calculations, using Pietermaritzburg-based figures for electricity and transport, and the average figure for a minimum nutritional basket of food for a family of four, electricity and transport take up 60.4% of a worker’s wage (R2,781.85/R4,606.40),” the index said. After transport and electricity costs are paid or set aside, workers are left with R1,824.55 to cover food and all other expenses. PMBEJD said this leaves families underspending on food by at least 50.4%, making it impossible to afford enough nutritious food.
“In this scenario, there is no possibility of a worker being able to afford enough nutritious food for her family.” Even if the entire remaining amount were spent solely on food, it would provide R456.14 per person per month in a four-person household. “This is below the 2023 rebased food poverty line of R777 per person per month. Note that the food poverty line is a monetary-based threshold, which a person cannot consume enough food to meet the minimum daily energy requirement.” The index recorded mixed month-on-month price movements in December.
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Foods that increased in price by 5% or more included carrots (9%), bananas (6%) and oranges (9%), while fish (3%), tomatoes (3%) and spinach (2%) rose by more than 2%. At the same time, several staple foods saw notable price declines. Items that dropped by 5% or more included rice (-5%), potatoes (-8%), onions (-9%) and butternut (-28%). Other decreases of 2% or more were recorded for maize meal, samp, cooking oil, salt, frozen chicken portions, beef liver, green peppers, Cremora, tinned pilchards, canned beans, margarine and apricot jam.
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