By Buziwe Nocuze
- Grandmother Nomathamsanqa Makibi supports four grandchildren and two sons with one pension grant every month.
- She no longer buys red meat, pork or even bread, and now makes homemade bread and buys spinach from her neighbour.
Nomathamsanqa Makibi’s pension grant is the only income keeping her family going.
The 65-year-old from Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape is looking after her four grandchildren and two unemployed sons.
Every month, she uses the grant to feed six people. She also pays R500 towards two insurance policies, which leaves even less for food and other essentials.
“I look for shops with specials or cheap combo deals so that we can get more groceries for less,” said Makibi.
She has had to make painful sacrifices to keep the family fed. She no longer buys pork, red meat or cereals for the children.
“Now I only buy chicken, chicken livers, gizzards and tinned food,” she said.
Even potatoes have become too expensive, so she now buys spinach from her neighbour instead of going to the supermarket. Her family also eats pumpkin leaves, squash leaves and cabbage when they can.
To stretch the groceries, they avoid cooking meat every day.
“We used to have red meat every Sunday with vegetables, but now we mostly eat samp because it’s cheaper than rice,” she said.
On Mondays they eat rice with spinach and gizzards. For the next few days, it’s maize meal with tinned food and squash leaves.
Makibi said bread has also become a luxury.
“We stopped buying it. We use flour to make our own bread. One loaf isn’t enough for six people,” she said.
She even switched from fresh milk to powdered milk to save money.
“I can’t go without tea, so I buy powdered milk because it lasts longer,” she said.
She knows prices are only going to rise further.
“We just have to get used to it.”
Pictured above: Groceries.
Image source: Stock image
