By Anita Dangazele
- Mthatha is the most expensive city for food in South Africa, beating Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, new data shows.
- Researcher Sibusiso Mboto says transport, storage and retail costs along the supply chain are passed directly to consumers in poorer areas.
Families in Mthatha are paying more for a basic monthly food basket than families in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. Mthatha is one of South Africa’s poorest regions.
The May 2026 Household Affordability Index, released by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group, found that the same basket of 44 foods costs R5,829.11 in Mthatha. In Cape Town it costs R5,222.75. In Durban, R5,284.48. Even in Johannesburg, one of the country’s most expensive cities to live in, the basket costs R5,723.62 — R105.49 less than in Mthatha.
Researcher Sibusiso Mboto says the answer lies not in what food costs to grow, but in what happens before it reaches a shelf.
“The issue here is always about what happens between the point of production to the point of consumption,” Mboto said. Every step along the way, from storage to wholesale to retail, adds a cost. None of those costs stay with the business.
“The consumer always bears the brunt of all of these costs,” he said.
Mboto says areas with more economic activity absorb some of those costs before they reach shoppers. In Gauteng, higher foot traffic, more competition between retailers, and more money moving through the economy help push prices down.
“Gauteng is an economic hub of South Africa, and therefore there is more money in circulation, there’s more economic activity, and all of those costs would be somewhat absorbed,” he said.
Mthatha has none of those buffers. Less economic activity means less competition. Less competition means costs land on the person at the till.
The people at the till in Mthatha are among the poorest in the country. A worker earning the national minimum wage takes home R4,836.80 a month after a full 20-day working month. That wage must feed a family. The food basket alone costs R5,829.11. The basket costs nearly R1,000 more than the entire wage.
That is the poverty penalty. The less your area can afford, the more it pays.
Pictured above: A woman shopping.A woman shopping.
Image source: Pexels.
