The price of cooking oil, a staple in many SA households, has increased by more than 70% due to a shortage of oil-producing crops such as sunflower globally.

This means today a 2-litre bottle of cooking oil on promotion costs almost twice what consumers paid  two years ago. The rise in the prices is attributed to the huge dependency on imports, resulting in demand-supply gap.

Popular food spot Matilda’s Small Corner near Busy Corner at Ebony Park, near Tembisa, goes through three 5-litre bottles of oil a day to make their sought-after vetkoeks.

“It used to be about R95 a bottle and now it’s close to R150,” said co-owner Santos Mahlangu.

Moyo, 43, a resident of Kaalfontein near Tembisa, has had to make sacrifices to avoid paying higher prices of cooking oil – an essential item in many shopping baskets for households.