Inflation is at a 30-month high of 5.2%, but the increase in the cost of household staples such as chicken, maize, beans and cooking oil is leaving it in the shade.

The latest consumer price index analysis by Stats SA shows the cost of cooking oil leapt by 30% in the past year, while dried beans are 27% more expensive and whole chickens have gone up by 17%.

“If you look at the last few inflation numbers that have come out, the basic [shopping] basket – which includes maize, chicken and oil – has become very expensive,” said Agri SA (https://agrisa.co.za/) chief economist Kulani Siweya...