In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, Annaline van der Poel, Chief Legal Officer at Debt Rescue, shared alarming findings from their latest national survey. The results revealed that 86% of South African households are already cutting back on groceries and transport just to afford electricity, and this was before Eskom’s 12.7% tariff increase for direct customers in April.
Van der Poel said that this is the second time within a year that Debt Rescue has surveyed consumers on the cost of living, and both times, South Africans reported cutting out not just luxuries but essential meals. Many are removing staple food items from their monthly budgets, a clear indication of the country’s worsening affordability crisis.
She explained that although inflation has technically slowed, it is still rising, and household incomes simply aren’t keeping pace. “Consumers are increasingly forced to use credit just to put food on the table,” she noted, expressing concern over the growing number of people using credit cards for groceries, which leads to long-term debt repayment on short-term needs.
She called on government to reconsider the basket of zero-rated VAT items, suggesting that expanding it to include more essentials could offer some relief.
Her advice to households? Go back to basics: budget rigorously, plan grocery purchases around weekly specials, and be brutally honest about unnecessary expenses like subscriptions.
“Discipline is the one tool still within consumers’ control,” she said.
Don’t miss this important conversation on how rising electricity costs are reshaping household survival.
