While the cost of basic foodstuffs decreased from July to August, over the course of a year a basic food basket has become even more unaffordable for Social Relief of Distress grant recipients, owing to a new increase in the food poverty line.
Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant recipients cannot afford half the foodstuffs necessary for survival despite August food inflation relief.
Maverick Citizen has been tracking the prices of 14 basic food items that can be bought with the R370 SRD grant. Between July and August, Maverick Citizen’s food basket decreased by R7 from 412.86 to 405.86.
Most items either decreased in cost or showed no price change. Three items increased in cost, namely mealie meal, which increased by R14, flour which increased by R1 and rice which increased by R2. Meanwhile cooking oil decreased by R3, cabbage decreased by R5, yeast decreased by R2, sugar beans decreased by R2, curry powder decreased by R7 and beef stock decreased by R5.
Despite the R7 decrease from July to August, the food basket remains about R35.86 more expensive than the SRD grant.
The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity (PMBEJD)’s household affordability index for the month of August reports that the average cost of the Household Food Basket decreased by R50,72 from R5 530,52 in July to R5 479,80 in August.
The PMBEJD’s index tracks the prices of 44 basic foods from 52 supermarkets and 36 butcheries around South Africa. The PMBEJD’s Household Food Basket is based on a family of seven members, which is the average size of a South African low-income household.
But regardless of the month-to-month decrease in the prices of basic foodstuffs recorded by both Maverick Citizen and the PMBEJD, the total cost of foodstuffs necessary to meet a person’s basic energy intake has increased.
In late August, Statistics SA revealed that the poverty lines have increased.
The food poverty line increased from R855 to R868 per person per month. This refers to the amount an individual will need to afford basic foodstuffs needed to meet a person’s minimum required daily energy intake. This is commonly referred to as the “extreme” poverty line.
The lower-bound poverty line increased from R1,415 to R1,457 per person per month. This refers to the food poverty line plus the average amount derived from non-food items of households whose total expenditure is equal (or near) to the food poverty line. It marks the threshold for those who can afford essential food items but not all non-food items.
The upper-bound poverty line increased from R2,846 to R2,962 per person per month. This refers to the food poverty line plus the average amount derived from non-food items of households whose food expenditure is equal (or near) to the food poverty line.
The SRD grant is now R498 less than the food poverty line and only covers about 43% of the cost of foodstuffs needed to meet a person’s basic energy intake.
The increase in the food poverty line means that the most basic basket of food bought mostly by SA’s poorest people has gone up in price over the past year, Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) Junior Basic Income Researcher Siyanda Baduza told Daily Maverick.
The rising cost of food would force SRD grant recipients away from more nutritious food sources and they would probably have to buy starchier foods and eat starch-rich diets, which could be linked to health issues like malnutrition, Baduza said.
“Initially [the SRD grant] was seen as this tool to fight hunger and food insecurity, but I think it’s becoming weaker as a tool to meaningfully do any of that. Someone can't survive on the grant alone,” said Baduza.
He explained that the gap between the SRD grant value and the food poverty line highlighted that the value of the grant was not connected to affordability or an objective definition of what it would cost a person to afford food in a specific month. This was one of the points argued by the IEJ and #PayTheGrants in their case against the Department of Social Development (DSD) and the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa).
In October 2024, the Institute for Economic Justice and #PayTheGrants, represented by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute, were heard in the North Gauteng Division of the High Court.
The institute and #PayTheGrants’ case was based on three pillars, Baduza said. Firstly, the organisations argued that the SRD grant system had been designed in a way that unfairly excluded eligible people from receiving support through various obstacles, such as having an online-only application system.
Secondly, the institute and #PayTheGrants challenged the adequacy of the SRD grant and income threshold used to determine eligibility. They challenged the gap between the value of the SRD grant (which has not kept up with inflation) and the food poverty line. Additionally, they challenged the requirement that applicants may not receive more than R624 per month in their bank account to qualify for a grant.
Lastly, the institute and #PayTheGrants challenged the failure to pay approved SRD grant recipients.
In January 2025, the high court delivered a judgment in favour of the Institute for Economic Justice and #PayTheGrants. The court found design elements in the SRD grant system, namely online-only application, flawed bank verification and database checks, restrictive income assessments and an appeals process that repeats the same problematic verification mechanisms in the SRD grant system to be unconstitutional.
But on 25 August, the State appealed against the high court’s judgment at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein. The Supreme Court of Appeal has yet to rule on this case. DM
