CPI remains unchanged for May

JOHANNESBURG - While overall inflation remains stable, South Africans aren’t necessarily feeling the relief at the tills.
 
Stats SA said that consumer price inflation stayed at 2.8% in May, the same as in April, but the reality on the ground tells a different story, as the cost of daily essentials continues to creep up.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages were the single biggest driver behind May's price rise, with many items now sharply more expensive than they were this time last year.
 
For millions of households, a flat inflation rate doesn't mean a flat grocery bill.
 
Food inflation has climbed to 4.8%, up from 4% in April, led by rising meat and vegetable costs.
 
A combination of animal diseases, weather swings and input costs have pushed beef prices up, while the vegetable basket has become even more unpredictable, with beetroot, lettuce and carrots seeing double-digit spikes.
 
Cereals, like maize meal and samp, crucial to most South African diets, are also becoming increasingly unaffordable, rising by over 14% and 20% respectively year-on-year.
 
And while wheat-based staples have largely stabilised, biscuits have bucked that trend, with savoury varieties up more than 12%.