Your family's food basket now costs R5,512. See the price in your city

A month's basic groceries for a low-income family cost an average of R5,512.53 in October 2026, according to the Household Affordability Index released by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PMBEJD) on 28 October. That is R24.48 (0.4%) more than in September and R71.94 (1.3%) more than a year ago.

Springbok in the Northern Cape had the most expensive basket at R5,848.83. Pietermaritzburg had the cheapest at R5,207.31, a gap of R641.52 a month (PMBEJD).

What does the food basket cost in your city?

Source: PMBEJD Household Affordability Index, October 2026, pages 8 to 15.

Joburg's basket rose the most in rand terms among the big metros this month. Mtubatuba, in northern KwaZulu-Natal, jumped by almost R200 in a single month. Cape Town's basket barely moved and costs about the same as it did a year ago.

What's in the basket?

The basket holds 44 foods in the amounts that women in low-income households of seven people say they try to buy each month, from 30kg of maize meal and 10kg of frozen chicken to 25 loaves each of white and brown bread. Prices are collected in the first week of each month from 52 supermarkets and 36 butcheries that serve low-income shoppers (PMBEJD).

The group says the basket is a reasonable stand-in for what these families buy, but it is not nutritionally complete.

Which foods went up, and which got cheaper?

Vegetables drove the increase. Onions have more than doubled in price in a year.

Source: PMBEJD Household Affordability Index, October 2026, page 2.

Maize meal, the biggest staple in the basket, is R35.11 cheaper than in October 2025. White bread went the other way: 25 loaves now cost R450, up R32.70 in a year.

Where does Springbok's basket cost more?

Meat and fish are the big difference. In Springbok, 10kg of frozen chicken portions cost R548.72 against the seven-city average of R419.56. Chicken livers (2kg) cost R139.94 against an average of R74.39, and fish (2kg) R195.98 against R135.21. A 10kg bag of white sugar costs R264.99 there, about R33 above average (PMBEJD, page 8).

Can a minimum wage cover the basket?

Not on its own, the index shows. The national minimum wage is R30.23 an hour. With 22 working days in October, a full month at eight hours a day comes to R5,320.48, which is less than the average basket of R5,512.53 (PMBEJD, page 1).

PMBEJD also works out what is left for food after a worker pays for two taxis to work and back (R96 a day, using Pietermaritzburg fares) and 350kWh of prepaid electricity (R1,263.45 on Msunduzi tariffs). On the maximum October wage, that leaves about R1,945. A basic nutritious diet for a family of four costs R3,828.72, so the family falls short on food by at least 49.2% (PMBEJD, pages 1, 6 and 7).

Grants fall well short too. The Child Support Grant of R580 is 33% below the food poverty line of R868 a person, and 41% below the R975.66 the group says it costs to feed a child a basic nutritious diet (PMBEJD, page 1).

When is the next update?

PMBEJD publishes the index every month, usually in the last week. The full reports, including past months, are on its Household Affordability Index page.