In May the average household food basket in SA was estimated to cost just over R4,000.
This was R61 cheaper than the previous month, according to the affordability index compiled by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group.
For many households faced with the reality of poverty and unemployment, this is simply unaffordable.
Even more so in an economy ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic which saw 2,2-million jobs lost during the first lockdown and only a fraction of those regained since.
This is why the reintroduction of government’s R350 covid grant to help unemployed citizens must be welcomed.
On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that government would reinstate the Social Relief of Distress Grant until the end of March 2022.
Other support measures targeted businesses that have been affected by the lockdown and the recent violence and looting in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
These included tax relief incentives where government would defer payment of PAYE taxes for three months and an automatic deferral of 35% of PAYE liabilities for employers with revenue below R100m.
For the most vulnerable, however, the distress grant will go some way to offer support in the current crisis.
In the first round of dispersing the R350 grant, at least 10 million people had applied for it, a strong indication of the greater need for assistance in many households.
Beyond the statistics, this newspaper told countless stories of people waiting for hours in long queues desperate to receive the grant.
Many told how they used the stipend to support their efforts to seek employment.
Critics argue that the allowance may entrench a culture of dependency on the state.
This view misses the point that government has an obligation to intervene, both to mitigate the impact of poverty in the short term and to structurally create favourable conditions of economic growth in the long term.
Others have argued that the R350 grant is not enough to live on and that instead of a handout, government should be providing jobs.
Indeed, poverty can only be eradicated through more meaningful and sustainable interventions.
Yet it would be unfounded to completely dismiss this grant as a necessary aid for those living under extreme conditions of poverty.
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