Antitrust Body Faults South African Grocers Over High Food Costs

South African food producers and retailers have been slow to pass on the effects of declining cost pressures to cash-strapped consumers, an issue that may warrant further investigation, the nation’s antitrust agency said.

Cost pressures are easing because of an end to rolling power outages, the rand’s strength against the dollar and declining fuel costs, the Competition Commission said in a report published Oct. 4. Still, essential-food prices “remain high and are increasing at a rate that is unaffordable for low-income households.”

The antitrust body began a probe last year into what it described as an unjustified increase in ...