Many Soweto residents had to bury their scruples this week and go to the same looters who had ransacked their shops to buy such staples as bread.
One resident said the looters were cashing in further on the destruction they had caused.
"Shops were closed and there was nowhere else to get basic things like bread and milk," she said.
The looters are adding a mark-up to the goods they stole for free.
"Where I would pay R15, I now had to pay R20," the woman said.
She said other products she and her neighbours are buying from the looters include diapers at R260 (normal retail R200-R220), tins of baked beans at R15 (normally R10) and toilet paper at R12 a roll (a mark-up of about 70% on the normal price).
By Thursday, informal traders in Kagiso on the West Rand were starting to do business again as communities rallied to protect them.
Resident Norman Ndou said people took it upon themselves to protect their local shops from further pillaging.
"We couldn't buy bread and other basics for two days, so the local community decided they must protect the little that was left here so that we can go back to normality."
Professor André Jooste from the department of agricultural economics at Stellenbosch University said food security in the broad sense was not threatened. "This is a localised food security problem that is only in the affected areas."
But he said many households would go hungry because of the job losses caused by the riots and anarchy.
"Most of the people who worked in the retail outlets and shopping centres that were destroyed might lose their jobs, and the question is, will they be able to afford to buy food?"
Economic analyst professor Bonke Dumisa said the prolonged closure of the N3 between Harrismith and Balgowan had been a major setback, as it was a key artery for trade in SA and Africa.
"If you close that, you lose millions [of rands] per hour."
Siobhan O'Sullivan, a marketing executive at Premier Foods, said limited supplies of fuel, raw materials and packaging, together with the necessity to keep employees safe, will hamper the company's ability to supply basic foodstuffs to communities in need.
"There may be disruptions in supply or delays in deliveries in the inland region, but we foresee continued disruptions to supply in KwaZulu-Natal."
Kanyisa Ndyondya, media manager of Tiger Brands, said the vandalism and looting would hamper the company's ability to supply its food products.
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