FOOD BASKET: R20 sugar saving highlights SA’s food affordability crisis as grants fall short
A R20 saving on value-brand sugar exposes how packaging and marketing can drive up food prices, while civil society urges the government to rethink grants and its nutrition policy.
A R20 saving on value-brand white sugar highlights South Africa's food affordability crisis as grants fall short. While purchasing value brands of basic food items can save consumers money, it does not guarantee the affordability of a basic food basket for the country's most vulnerable. The price of the cheapest brand of white sugar decreased by R20 from R69.99 to R49.99 between August and September, but the overall cost of the basic food basket remains R18.86 higher than the R370 SRD grant value, leaving it R18.86 more expensive than the national poverty lines.
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