Consumer Price Inflation accelerated to 5.6% in October from 5.5% in September.
Statistics South Africa said the increase was due to hikes in the prices of food, non-alcoholic beverages, and fuel.
The latest data surprised investors, who had expected inflation to dip slightly.
News of the rise in CPI comes amid the meeting of the Reserve Bank's monetary policy committee in Pretoria to discuss the repo rate.
Its decision on this rate will be announced on Thursday.
Investec economist Annabel Bishop says CPI inflation is likely to exceed the target for a significant period next year
