3 days ago
Urgent petition launched in South Africa to tackle soaring food prices
Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PMBEJD) has been mootoring food prices for many years
Image: Armand Hough: Independent Newspapers
A nationwide petition has been launched calling on the government and retailers to intervene to bring down rising food prices as South Africans are facing a daily battle to feed their families.
The action has been brought by United Against Hunger (UAH), which hopes to collect about 100,000 signatures as part of its campaign to reduce food prices. The organisation stated that many families are no longer able to feed themselves, and children are starving.
The petition has also been linked with door-to-door campaigns, with affiliates of the union visiting homes to collect signatures and brief residents on the issues of hunger and malnutrition among children. The petition was launched as part of the World Hunger campaigns.
Mark Heywood, the leader of UAH, stated that the petition aims to encourage large retailers making significant profits to respond to the moral needs of their customers or to get the government involved in regulating food prices.
"The petition is going slower than we had hoped, but we are beginning to engage communities, going door to door in KwaZulu-Natal. Abahlali BaseMjondolo (the shack dwellers' movement) is visiting homes, collecting signatures, and engaging with communities on issues of malnutrition," he said.
The 2024 General Household Survey, which was released last week revealed that nearly 14 million South Africans, equivalent to almost a quarter of all households, faced daily hunger last year.
The data showed that 22.2% of households reported inadequate or severely inadequate access to food, with the Northern Cape (34.3%), Eastern Cape (31.3%), Mpumalanga (30.4%), and KwaZulu-Natal (23.9%) the most affected provinces. Children are particularly vulnerable. Malnutrition significantly impairs physical and cognitive development, increasing mortality risks and undermining long-term educational and economic outcomes.
Heywood said: 'By the age of five, 29% of children have experienced malnutrition and are stunted as a result of not having sufficient food. We know that there are several causes of hunger, and they are complex, but one of the biggest causes is the prices and profiteering off essential foodstuffs."
He added that the organisation believes, based on studies by universities, that if food could be made available to poorer people, malnutrition could be significantly reduced. He said they wrote to the CEO of one of the major food stores, urging the company to reduce prices on essential food items for children developing in the early stages of their lives. He emphasised that big companies in the retail sector can afford to reduce prices and are currently making huge profits.
"Everyone has a right to sufficient food; that is a constitutional right. If companies that set high food prices are violating the realisation of those rights, then we say the government must regulate not just the quality of food but also the affordability of food to ensure that people in this country do not go hungry. Hunger is a human rights violation; it is not something that we should subject people to because our country produces a surplus of food," he said.
Heywood suggested several interventions that can be undertaken, including:
Pass legislation to prevent food waste.
Reduce food prices
Introduce legislation to prevent food wastage
Set up a National Food Security and Nutrition Council and finalise the National Plan on Food Security and Nutrition in consultation with communities.
Mervyn Abrahams, director of the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group, stated that the calls for food prices to be reviewed are genuine. The group has been assessing food affordability for the past few years.
"As we have demonstrated before through our Household Affordability Index, food prices continue to rise both on a monthly and annual basis, making it difficult each and every day for many families, especially those in the low-income bracket, to buy essential food items."
He added, "We have been consistent in calling for transparency in the food ecosystem primarily out of concern that big business is driven by the sole desire to make profit. This concern arises from an appreciation that when profits are prioritised above everything else, families find themselves having to make difficult choices and compromises when it comes to buying food because of high prices."
