With millions of South Africans battling hunger and about 30 children dying daily from malnutrition, the country’s food system is now under intense scrutiny.
The South African Human Rights Commission has launched a national investigative hearing aimed at uncovering why access to adequate food remains out of reach for many households despite constitutional guarantees.
The National Investigative Hearing into South Africa’s food systems, currently underway, stems from complaints received by the Commission and its monitoring work, which revealed persistent barriers to accessing adequate food. Section 27(1)(b) of the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to have access to sufficient food, yet millions of South Africans still go to bed hungry while children continue to suffer from stunting and malnutrition.
The inquiry is hearing testimony from civil society organisations, activists and policy groups seeking answers on the scale of food insecurity in the country. Among those presenting evidence are members of the Union Against Hunger and civil society coalitions including the Just Transition in Food Systems, the Universal Basic Income Coalition, Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, Section27, the Association for Rural Advancement and Amandla.mobi.
The hearings will also see seven government ministers accounting for what is being done, or why more has not been done, to address widespread hunger and malnutrition.
The Union Against Hunger (UAH) said the hearings are long overdue, warning that hunger and malnutrition remain a deadly crisis, particularly for children.
“Approximately 30 young children die a day (11,000 a year) due directly or indirectly to hunger and malnutrition. 29% of children are stunted by the age of five, pointing to chronic malnutrition.”
The organisation added that despite South Africa’s food production capacity, hunger remains widespread.
“In a land of plenty and agricultural and food surplus, up to fifteen million people experience hunger, many every day. Hunger is one of the worst manifestations of inequality in our country, and testing food as a way of making excessive profits rather than a human right is a significant factor behind hunger and diseases of hunger and income-poverty,” it said.
However, the group cautioned that the inquiry must lead to meaningful change rather than becoming another symbolic exercise.
“There has been a great deal of lip service to hunger and little action to address it at scale. The SAHRC has held conferences, hearings and produced reports on hunger in 1999, 2013, 2016-17 and 2023,” UAH added.
The organisation also raised concerns about what it described as significant gaps in the hearing programme, questioning the absence of major food producers and retailers from the proceedings.
“We do not understand or accept why no major food producer (such as Tiger Brands) or retailer (such as Shoprite) is appearing before the commission. Affordability, excessive pricing, and poor food quality are major factors behind hunger and malnutrition.”
“The public needs to know why they are being excused from attendance and accountability?”
The group further argued that the inquiry does not sufficiently focus on the impact of hunger on children or on the government departments responsible for their welfare.
“The Presidency is not being asked to account for its failures in this regard. Why? The National Treasury, whose short-sighted policy of austerity is literally causing starvation, is visible by its absence. Why? We are concerned by the lack of community voices. NGOs and think tanks are important intermediaries, but they are not a substitute for hearing from people who live and die of hunger,” it said.
The organisation said it will attend the first and last days of the hearings with community members who can speak directly to the pain and indignity of hunger.
Previously, The Star reported how thousands of vulnerable families in Gauteng were left struggling to access food support after the provincial government moved to centralise food bank operations, a decision announced during Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s 2025 State of the Province Address as part of efforts to streamline distribution and improve service delivery.
However, the move drew criticism from opposition parties and civil society groups, who argued that the policy disrupted an existing network of 288 non-profit organisations and regional food banks that previously distributed food parcels to vulnerable communities. Critics said the shift has contributed to fewer food parcels reaching households in need, raising further concerns about the effectiveness of government interventions to tackle hunger.
The Star
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