South African tariffs on food increased from 2013. By the end of the decade, they exceeded the average tariff on all goods by over 1%. The result was to place a floor on some basic foods – notably wheat and chicken. Because these are wage goods, that in turn placed upward pressure on overall consumer price inflation. Why did this trend emerge, especially in light of South Africa’s high levels of inequality and poverty? A political-economic analysis finds that the main mechanism was the decision-making process on tariffs, which magnified the influence of well-resourced commercial farm and food-processing lobbies