<\/p>\n
The Competition Commission has released its second Cost of Living Report, revealing a grim landscape for South African consumers in which the cost of survival has outpaced general inflation.<\/p>\n
Spanning 2020 to January 2026, the report exposes \u201cprice stickiness\u201d in essential value chains, specifically identifying a trend in which retail prices soar quickly in response to cost increases but are sluggish to decline when those costs fall \u2013 a phenomenon known as \u201crocket and feather\u201d pricing.<\/p>\n
The utility crisis<\/p>\n
The most severe burden on the \u201cvulnerable consumer\u201d comes from regulated utilities. Between 2020 and January 2026, electricity prices rose by approximately 85% and water prices by 68%. These increases are nearly triple the overall inflation rate of 30% recorded during the same period.<\/p>\n
Listen: Cost of living report reveals sustained pressure on households<\/p>\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n
The Commission attributes these staggering hikes to deep-seated structural failures, including:<\/p>\n
\u00a0Ageing infrastructure and operational inefficiencies.
\n\u00a0High debt burdens within the utility sector.
\n\u00a0Municipal pricing approaches that effectively add \u201ccosts on top of costs\u201d.
\n\u00a0Current pricing systems may fail to provide quick relief despite legislative reforms like the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act.<\/p>\n
Food security under threat<\/p>\n
The report highlights a troubling \u201cmixed\u201d outlook for food staples. While margins for brown bread and canned pilchards moved in line with costs, other critical items showed a widening \u201cspread\u201d, the percentage difference between producer and retail prices.<\/p>\n
Maize meal: While the farm value of white maize dropped from R22.16 in May 2025 to R14.49 per 2.5kg by December 2025, retail prices remained high, with a producer-to-retail spread of 37% in November 2025.
\n\u00a0IQF Chicken: Between June and December 2025, producer prices remained stable at roughly R45, yet retail prices for a 1.5kg pack climbed from R96.38 to R101.56.
\nEggs: Producer prices fell in mid-2025, but the commission noted that retail prices lagged, suggesting consumers were denied immediate relief.
\nSunflower oil: The commission flagged a specific concern about price stickiness for the cooking staple.<\/p>\n
Read:
Vat zero-rated basket unchanged in almost a decade
Food price rollercoaster: Eggs, frozen chicken, grains see wild swings<\/p>\n
The looming transport and education squeeze<\/p>\n
While petrol prices remained stable throughout 2025 and into January 2026, the Commission warned that renewed instability in the Middle East has already begun pushing oil prices higher. This is expected to exert upward pressure on fuel, transport, and, eventually, food costs starting in April 2026.<\/p>\n
ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n
CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n
Read:
No April Fools\u2019 joke: Diesel still rockets over R7\/l, petrol over R3\/l
Fuel levy cut announced as workers feel the pinch<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the \u201cmissing middle\u201d and low-income families are facing increased pressure due to rising education costs. From 2020 to early 2026, primary education costs rose by 37% and secondary education by 42%, both significantly exceeding headline inflation due to operational costs not covered by government funding.<\/p>\n
Competition Commissioner Doris Tshepe emphasised that without greater scrutiny of how administered prices are set and a focus on transparency in tariff determinations, these cost pressures will remain \u201centrenched,\u201d stifling economic recovery and household welfare.<\/p>\n
Listen: SA child poverty crisis deepens<\/p>\n
#SAs #living #costs #race #ahead #inflation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Competition Commission has released its second Cost of Living Report, revealing a grim landscape…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[839,1364,176,1501,1403,415],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2957"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2957\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}