PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has reaffirmed government's effort to tackle poverty.
When he gave oral replies to questions by members of Parliament (MPs) on Tuesday, 27 May, he said government recognises the high cost of living facing South Africans.
"Tackling poverty and the cost of living is one of the three strategic priorities of the Government of National Unity and forms a central pillar of the Medium-Term Development Plan," he said.
He said Mzansi's macroeconomic policy framework has been a key lever for shielding the poor from the high cost of living.
He pointed out that the framework includes an inflation target, which has helped keep prices low and stable and has been important in reducing average prices.
"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 cost of living, has declined, averaging 4,4% in 2024 and inflation has even moderated further to 2,7% in March 2025," he said.
Ramaphosa said food staples, such as maize meal, brown bread, rice, samp, milk, eggs and other basic foodstuffs remain exempt from VAT, helping cushion lower-income households.
He said the fiscal policy has been redistributive, prioritising poor and low-income households.
He further mentioned that government spends about 60% of its revenue on the social wage, which includes spending on social grants and education.
"In the Budget presented by the minister of finance last week, social grants were increased at a rate higher than inflation. The provision of free basic services, such as water and electricity, for indigent households is an essential measure in reducing the high cost of living," he said.
Ramaphosa told MPs that the bulk of local government's equitable share in this year's budget goes towards a free basic services package to more than 11 million poor households.
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He emphasised that this package of free municipal services continues to be a key tool for reducing poverty and inequality, raising living standards and facilitating access to greater economic opportunities.
The president said: "It's essential that municipalities ensure that this support reaches all the households that need it. Another measure to mitigate the impact of the high costs of basic necessities are a network of over 3 000 centre-based food programmes established by the Department of Social Development to provide nutritious food to poor and vulnerable people. These centres provide comprehensive services, which include psychosocial support, welfare and developmental interventions, while addressing the immediate need of providing access to nutritious food on a daily basis.
"We are also working to address some of the structural factors that contribute to the cost of living, including the impact of apartheid spatial planning."
Ramaphosa said government is reforming its housing policies to provide affordable housing closer to economic centres and improving the capacity of commuter rail services, making it less expensive for people to get to work or access services.
