The cost of food, in real terms, has come down to 1999 levels, according to a Food Price Monitoring Committee report released on Friday.
”The general price of items in a shopping trolley has decreased by three percent in the last year,” committee chairperson Johann Kirsten told reporters in Pretoria.
Mandated by the government to probe a sudden increase in food prices in 2001 and 2002, the committee found this had been sparked by a range of factors, including a weak rand/dollar exchange rate.
The weak rand contributed to higher commodity prices, which filtered through to other markets.
Kirsten said rumours of price manipulation and collusion by members of the supply chain could not be proved, but this did not mean it had not happened.
The committee recommended to the government that a supply chain be investigated every year to prevent manipulation and collusion from happening.
Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza accepted the proposal. – Sapa