By Anita Dangazele
- A minimum wage worker earning R4,836 a month is left with just R2,054 after paying for transport and electricity, but a family’s basic food basket costs R3,795.
- Statistics South Africa confirmed inflation hit 4,5% in May 2026, its steepest reading in nearly two years, with transport the biggest driver.
You paid more to get to work this month than you did last month. And that means you have less for food.
Statistics South Africa released its Consumer Price Index for May on Wednesday. Headline inflation came in at 4,5%, up from 4,0% in April. It is the third month in a row that prices have climbed, and the steepest reading since July 2024.
Transport drove most of it. Fuel prices are up 28,7% on last year. The cost of running a vehicle rose 21,8%. Even taxi and bus fares went up 4%. Those numbers were recorded while the government’s fuel levy relief was still partly in place.
That relief is now finished. National Treasury cut the fuel levy by R3 a litre in April and May to cushion rising fuel costs. It halved that in June. From July, the full rates are back: R4.10 per litre for petrol and R3.93 for diesel.
There is one thing working in your favour. A stronger rand and lower international oil prices have built up an over-recovery in the current pricing cycle. Pump prices are still expected to drop in July, even with the full levy restored. But the levy will reduce the size of that drop.
For a worker on the minimum wage, none of it closes the gap. After paying R1,600 for transport and R1,181 for prepaid electricity, a worker earning R4,836 takes home R2,054 for everything else. The basic nutritional food basket for a family of four costs R3,795. The shortfall is R1,740 every month.
The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group, which tracks what food actually costs in townships and low-income areas across seven cities, found the average household food basket costs R5,479 in May. Families in Mthatha paid the most at R5,829.
The Child Support Grant is R580 a month. Feeding a child a nutritious diet costs R967.
Pictured above: Transport costs rose 9,4% in the year to May 2026, with fuel up 28,7%.
Image source: File
