By Anita Dangazele
- Chicken feet cost R47.12 in Cape Town but R106.73 in Joburg, more than double for the same 2kg, PMBEJD’s August data shows.
- A 1kg bag of salt costs R9.99 in Cape Town and R24.99 in Springbok, two and a half times more for an identical product.
If you think grocery prices are the same everywhere in South Africa, they’re not, and sometimes the gap is enormous.
The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group tracks the price of the same 44 foods across seven cities every month. In August, a 2kg pack of chicken feet cost R47.12 in Cape Town. The exact same product cost R106.73 in Johannesburg, more than double.
It’s not a one-off. A 1kg bag of salt, about as basic and identical a product as exists, cost R9.99 in Cape Town but R24.99 in Springbok, two and a half times more. Onions ranged from R109.04 in Mthatha to R187.74 in Springbok, a 72% difference. Frozen chicken portions cost R422.73 in Joburg but R561.22 in Springbok, nearly a third more.
These aren’t different products or different brands.
PMBEJD’s data collectors track prices at the same kinds of supermarkets and butcheries, the ones low-income women in each area say they actually shop at, using the same shopping list every month.
The differences come down to things like how far food has to travel to reach a particular town, how much competition exists between shops in an area, and how much buying power local retailers have. Smaller, more remote towns like Springbok often pay more because there’s less competition and higher transport costs to get goods there in the first place.
For a family trying to stretch a tight budget, where you live can be the difference between affording a proper meal and going without, even when you’re buying exactly the same thing as someone in another city.
Pictured above: A 2kg pack of chicken feet costs R47.12 in Cape Town and R106.73 in Joburg. Same product, same size, more than double the price.
Image source: Facebook
