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For the first time in over ten years, the Nkomonde family will celebrate Christmas separately as rising food costs make their traditional family feast unaffordable.

Cape Town farmer Mzimasi Jonas spends R9,650 monthly on herdsmen, insurance, feed, and medicine for his 65 Boer goats, forcing prices from R2,300 to R4,000 in two years.

South Africa's inflation rate dropped to 3.5% in November from 3.6% in October. Transport and recreation costs fell while food and beverage prices rose higher.

Port St John's farmer Miranda Sofika spends over R10,000 preparing soil, hiring workers, and fighting pests, driving cabbage prices from R10 to R15 in one year.

Cape Town chicken seller Nolukholo Plati had to travel to Bloemfontein during the bird flu outbreak, spending R1,500 on diesel per trip, forcing prices up from R450 to R500 for five chickens.

Port St John's macadamia farmer Akho Seku spends over R50,000 on soil preparation and waits four years before trees produce nuts, explaining why prices keep rising.

South Africa has opened its first new underground gold mine in over a decade promising to create more than a thousand jobs on the West Rand.

Port St John's beekeeper Luzuko Kamtshe spent R4,000 this month on transportation, fencing, and equipment, explaining why raw honey sells for up to R130 per bottle.

Charcoal maker Sibusiso Mfazwe now pays R1,500 for truck hire to fetch wood from the bushes, up from lower costs in 2017, forcing him to increase prices for festive season braais.

Water outages have overtaken load shedding as the biggest problem for South Africans, with the EskomSePush app now getting most of its activity from water cut reports.

A mother in Lusikisiki has stopped buying red meat because she says the rising prices have pushed it far beyond her reach.

A herdsman from Lusikisiki says looking after cows and sheep helps him feed his wife and children.