The harsh realities of SA’s economy have forced pensioner Thandi Magasela to run to a loan shark to put food on the table.

The 68-year-old from Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, depends on a disability grant of R2,090 and said the ever-rising cost of living was making it hard for her to feed her family.

Her two children, both in their 30s, were unemployed. She also has grandchildren.

This week, motorists were hit by another hike on petrol and diesel. A litre of fuel costs more than R22.

The National Agricultural Marketing Council’s (NAMC) latest food basket monthly price report shows that “during December 2023 the nominal cost of the NAMC’s 28-item urban food basket amounted to R1,239.59 compared to the R1,232.19 reported in November 2023. This represents a monthly increase of 0.6% and a year-on-year increase of 9.6%”.

“The grant money is not enough. Everyone in the house looks up to me. Yes, the government provides where they can, but as soon as the money enters it goes towards settling the debts that we have made during the month trying to get by. We get paid for loan sharks,” said Magasela.

“Once I get the money, we try to pay for the necessities like electricity, but it is not enough. For gas, R50 only lasts two days. I cannot lie and say that the grant money doesn’t help, it does, but it doesn’t match the way things are in the country.

“If you get into my house, you will see that we don’t have money.Open the fridge and you will tell me what you find,” Magasela said.

She said after paying for electricity, they spend R1,500 on groceries and the rest would be given to loan sharks to pay off their debt.

“You give the loan sharks money that you owe, only for you to come back and ask for more. That’s how we live.”

Couple Bongiwe Ntseno, 37, and Tebatso Tjatji, 40, said they often spend nearly R3,000 on groceries for their family of 12.

Tjatji said he used to work about three years ago, earning R4,000 but realised that was not enough.

“I then started a car wash and sometimes I make more than the R4,000 [I used to earn] and sometimes I make less. I have to pay for school fees, groceries and spend close to R600 on gas. The cost of living keeps increasing and nothing is being done to match it. It’s really hard.”

University of Johannesburg development economist Daniel Meyer said the average inflation in 2023 was 5.9%, which is just below the SA Reserve Bank target of 3% to 6%. This led to the significant increases in basic items such as food and transport costs.

“There are much larger increases in prices versus salaries/income. This resulted in a rising cost of living and [puts] consumers more under pressure. The Sassa (SA Social Security Agency) and other grants assist the poorest of the poor, but do not lift people out of poverty,” Meyer said.

“The petrol price increase will lead to rising inflation again of about 0.3%. This will lead to rising prices across the board, including food prices. The inflation is driven by costs not demand.”

NAMC also noted that “SA's food inflation is anticipated to remain stagnant in the coming months driven by uncertainties around the El Niño conditions affecting sugar cane and rice production, particularly in the northern hemisphere, along with heightened oil prices. Concurrently, the South African poultry industry is still facing substantial risks due to the ongoing Avian influenza outbreak”.

mashalek@sowetan.co.za