The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) held the second leg of its national investigative hearing into South Africa’s food systems from 6 to 10 July 2026, questioning major retailers including Woolworths, Shoprite and Pick n Pay, along with other food producers, on market concentration, pricing practices and access to affordable food.
What the hearings are examining
The SAHRC’s food systems inquiry is looking at how South Africa’s food retail and production sector is structured, and whether that structure contributes to food being less affordable or accessible than it should be for lower-income households. Central themes include the degree of market concentration among a small number of large retailers and producers, pricing behaviour along the supply chain, and whether smaller and informal food retailers face structural disadvantages competing against major chains.
Because the SAHRC is a constitutional body with a mandate to promote and protect human rights — including the right to sufficient food — its findings carry weight beyond an ordinary parliamentary committee inquiry, though the Commission’s powers are generally centred on investigation, recommendation and, where necessary, litigation support, rather than direct regulatory enforcement.
Why food affordability has become a pressing issue
Rising costs across transport, electricity and municipal services have squeezed household budgets over the past year — a trend documented in our coverage of May 2026’s inflation figures, which showed food and non-alcoholic beverage costs contributing meaningfully to the overall cost-of-living pressure households are reporting. Against that backdrop, questions about whether retail market structure itself is adding an avoidable premium to grocery prices carry real weight for ordinary consumers trying to stretch a limited income.
What retailers have been asked to account for
While a full transcript of hearing testimony was not independently available for this report, the scope of a market-concentration and affordability inquiry of this kind typically includes questions on:
- Pricing strategies and margins across different categories of staple foods.
- The bargaining power large retail chains hold over smaller suppliers and producers.
- Barriers facing independent and informal traders competing against major supermarket chains.
- Whether current market concentration levels are consistent with a genuinely competitive retail sector.
Readers wanting the retailers’ own responses and any commitments made during the hearings should consult the SAHRC’s published hearing records directly at sahrc.org.za, since detailed testimony was still being processed publicly at the time of writing.
What this means for consumers
An SAHRC inquiry does not immediately change prices at the till, and any resulting recommendations would likely take further time — potentially involving referrals to bodies such as the Competition Commission — before translating into concrete change. For now, the hearings are best understood as a formal, public examination of a question many consumers have asked informally for years: why food price increases so often seem to outpace general inflation, and whether the answer lies purely in input costs or partly in how concentrated the retail market itself has become.
Background: food security as a constitutional right
Section 27 of the South African Constitution guarantees a right of access to sufficient food, which gives the SAHRC a clear constitutional basis for an inquiry of this kind, distinct from purely economic or competition-focused investigations. This is not the Commission’s first engagement with food-related rights issues, reflecting a sustained institutional interest in food security as a human rights matter rather than a purely commercial one.
What happens next
The SAHRC is expected to compile findings and recommendations following the conclusion of its hearings, which may include referrals to other regulatory bodies such as the Competition Commission if evidence of anti-competitive conduct emerges. Newsdomain will report on the Commission’s findings once they are formally published.
What market concentration actually means in practice
Market concentration refers to how much of a given market’s total sales or activity is controlled by a small number of large players, rather than being spread across many competing businesses. In a highly concentrated retail market, large chains can exert significant influence over supplier pricing, shelf space and, potentially, consumer prices themselves, since consumers in many areas — particularly outside major urban centres — may have realistically limited alternative options to a small number of dominant chains. This doesn’t automatically mean prices are being set unfairly; concentrated markets can also achieve efficiencies of scale that lower costs. Distinguishing between legitimate scale efficiency and anti-competitive pricing behaviour is precisely the kind of question a body like the SAHRC, potentially working alongside the Competition Commission, would need to examine carefully using detailed pricing and margin data rather than headline retail prices alone.
Why food affordability is treated differently from other consumer goods
Food occupies a distinct category in South African consumer protection and human rights law because it is a basic necessity rather than a discretionary purchase — households cannot simply reduce food spending the way they might delay a non-essential purchase during a period of financial strain. This is why the SAHRC’s constitutional mandate around the right to sufficient food gives it a basis to examine food retail specifically, in a way it would not typically examine, for example, the market structure of a discretionary consumer goods category.
What consumers can do while the inquiry continues
- Compare prices across different retailers and formats (independent traders, informal markets, major chains) for frequently purchased staples, since price differences can be significant even within the same area.
- Report specific pricing concerns directly to the SAHRC or the Competition Commission if you observe patterns that seem inconsistent with fair competition, such as coordinated pricing across competing outlets.
- Follow the SAHRC’s published findings once released, since these may include practical recommendations relevant to consumers as well as regulatory bodies.
Why hearings like this rarely produce instant results
Investigative hearings of this nature are typically the beginning of a longer process rather than a conclusion in themselves. Testimony gathered during the hearing period feeds into a written report, which may include specific findings and recommendations, potential referrals to other regulatory bodies, and sometimes proposed policy or legislative changes. The gap between a hearing concluding and any resulting change taking practical effect for consumers can be measured in months or, in some cases, years — a timeline worth bearing in mind for readers hoping this inquiry translates quickly into lower grocery prices.
Why South Africa’s retail sector has faced this scrutiny before
This is not the first time South Africa’s major retailers have faced regulatory or public scrutiny over pricing and market power — the sector has previously been the subject of Competition Commission market inquiries in other contexts. Recurring scrutiny of this kind reflects the retail sector’s outsized importance to household welfare in a country where food affordability is a persistent concern for a large share of the population, making it a natural and recurring focus for regulators and rights bodies alike.
Frequently asked questions
Does the SAHRC have the power to force retailers to lower prices?
No. The SAHRC’s role is investigative and advisory; it can make findings and recommendations and refer matters to other bodies, such as competition regulators, but it does not directly set or control retail prices.
Which retailers were involved in the hearings?
Reported participants included Woolworths, Shoprite and Pick n Pay, among other retailers and food producers, as part of the SAHRC’s broader food systems inquiry.
Sources Used
- South African Human Rights Commission — national investigative hearing into food systems, July 2026
