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HRC lambasts EC government over malnutrition

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Dear Editor

The ANC-led Eastern Cape government does not care about the children of this province, and nowhere is it more evident than in the Department of Social Development ((DSD). At a time when the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) declared child malnutrition in the province as a disaster, DSD has opted to cut back on spending on food parcels.

The SAHRC lambasted the provincial government in a report released this week, stating that the state’s failure to ensure access to adequate food and nutrition directly contributes to preventable loss of life among children in the Eastern Cape, constituting a violation of their right to life.

The report highlighted that the Eastern Cape faces an unprecedented and dire situation, with data revealing an alarming 27% stunting rate among children in the province. The SAHRC said 116 children succumbed to Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) between April 2021 and April 2022, and an astonishing 1087 children suffered from malnutrition in the same period.

In response to a parliamentary question from the Democratic Alliance, Social Development MEC, Bukiwe Fanta, revealed that her Department has opted to cut back on food parcels significantly, cutting the budget allocation for food parcels from R6.1 million to R5.2 million for the 2023/24 financial year.

This cut translates to roughly 1,200 families who will now not receive any assistance in terms of food parcels.

DSD has gone from distributing 29,573 parcels in 2021/22 to delivering just 2,294 the following year and just 929 parcels so far this financial year.

For the 2023/24 financial year, the Eastern Cape ANC government has only funded 26 food gardens for the entire province. Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, a total of 105 food gardens were established in the province, of which 29 have failed.

Children are literally starving to death, and the Department mandated to care for them is cutting back on spending.

The ANC does not care about the people in this province!

The Democratic Alliance has been calling for the Child Support Grant, which has not kept pace with inflation, to be increased above the food poverty line. The SAHRC has now echoed this call.

We also support the SAHRC’s recommendation that DSD collaborates with the Department of Home Affairs to explore launching a registration campaign targeting unregistered children, ensuring their eligibility for social assistance programs.

The DA will continue to fight for strengthened oversight mechanisms within the Eastern Cape Legislature, to hold government departments accountable for addressing child malnutrition and ensuring the effective use of allocated resources.

The ANC poses the single greatest threat to the sustainability of social grants, food parcels for the poor and economic growth.

It is only a DA-led government that can rescue the Eastern Cape and ensure that the poor receive the assistance they so desperately need.

Regards

Kobus Botha MPL
DA EC Shadow MEC for Social Development

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