‘We are shielding the poor,’ says Ramaphosa on high cost of living

President Cyril Ramaphosa says his government has sufficient measures in place to shield poor South Africans from the high costs of basic necessities.

This is in light of the increase of the average household food basket by nearly 40% of inflation.

However concerning, the president insists that his government not only recognises the high cost of living facing South Africans, but has measures in place to cushion its most vulnerable.

“Food staples, such as maize meal, brown bread, rice, samp, milk, eggs and other basic foodstuffs remain exempt from VAT and this helps to cushion the lower income households in our country from the high prices.

“Our fiscal policy has been redistributive, prioritising poor and low income households. In the end, government spends about 60% and in the current budget, the minister of finances advises that [government] has edged up to 61% of its revenue in the social wage, which includes spending on social grants, education and health.”

Ramaphosa said tackling poverty and the cost of living is one of the three strategic priorities of the GNU and forms a strategic pillar of the medium-term development plan.

He said South Africa’s macroeconomic policy framework has been a key lever for shielding the poor from the high costs of living.

“The framework includes an inflation target, which has helped to keep prices low and stable and has been important in reducing average prices,” he said.

Ramaphosa explained that when inflation is high, the purchasing power of ordinary people becomes weaker — hailing the drop in inflation as a positive for poor South Africans.

“Food price inflation has fallen quite significantly, from 12.7% at the end of 2022 to 2.2% in March 2025. Headline inflation, which is a measure of the general costs of living, has also declined, averaging 4.4% in 2024, with inflation even moderating further to 2.7% in March 2025.”