The Democratic Alliance (DA) is concerned about Mpumalanga’s poorest citizens as the cost of living continue to rise and that an increase in inflation will further drive-up food costs.
Information contained in Statistics South Africa’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) revealed that once again, inflation in our province increased by 0.8% to 8.3% for December 2022. The DA finds it extremely concerning that although our provincial CPI has been higher than the national average for the past three months, our provincial government has done very little to protect vulnerable communities in the province.
The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in 2022 and the resulting economic downturn affected citizens in the province tremendously, which led to employment losses, rising food and fuel prices, and higher transportation costs.
Knowing that a majority of the population in the province lives below the lower-bound poverty line of R810, our provincial government must protect our vulnerable communities from the rising cost of living. This position is further supported by data from Stats SA’s General Household Survey, which showed that 33.4% of province residents rely on social grants as a source of income. According to the survey, 32.8% of Mpumalanga’s population reported having access to food issues.
Between December 2021 and December 2022, the following food prices increased:
- Oils and Fats increased by 22%;
- Bread increased by 20.6%;
- Vegetables increased by 12.5%;
- Fish increased by 10.4%; and
- Meat increased by 9.7%
Taking the above into account and being cognisant of the current issues at Eskom, the rolling blackouts, and how this will directly lead to higher inflation of food in the coming months and more job losses, we need a provincial safety net to be implemented now.
The DA has also followed up with the MEC for the Department of Social Development, Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, requesting a report back on the implementation of some of the safety-net mechanisms that were provided in our proposal that was handed to her in November last year.