Struggling SA mothers say high food prices have hollowed out proper nutrition on the family plate.
This has removed an important line of defence against Covid-19, states the latest Household Affordability Index report released by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group (PMBEJD) on Wednesday.
High food prices have prompted another call from the group to reinstate social grant top-ups and the Covid-19 social relief of distress (SRD) grant.
The report shows the cost of the average household food basket increased by 7.1% from R3,856.34 in September 2020 to R4,128.23 in June 2021.
It tracks food price data from 44 supermarkets and 30 butcheries in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg and Springbok in the Northern Cape.
“[The lack of proper nutrition] has removed an important line of defence against Covid-19 and other common illnesses, and children and women are more vulnerable to disease,” said Mervyn Abrahams of the PMBEJD.
“It is likely that the long queues of hungry people we saw in the first and second waves requiring food support will again come to pass because the state has taken away all income support, wages have not gone up, unemployment levels remain untenably high, jobs continue to be lost and food prices have gone up.
“At the very least government should reinstate the support that was given in the first and second waves: bring back the top-ups to the grants and the Covid special relief grant,” he said.
Social development minister Lindiwe Zulu admitted earlier this month that terminating relief programmes, including the R350 SRD grant, would increase hunger, worsen social and political stress and slow down economic recovery.
Zulu was responding to a parliamentary question posed by the EFF about the implications stopping the SRD grant for poor South Africans.
It is likely that the long queues of hungry people that we saw in the first and second waves requiring food support will again come to pass.
— Mervyn Abrahams, PMBEJD
The R350 monthly grant was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last year to help those affected by the pandemic lockdown, and was meant for unemployed citizens and qualifying foreign citizens.
In a written reply to the EFF’s question, Zulu said: “The evidence provided by the various research and analysis confirms the assumption that ending relief programmes will reduce household demand as well as increase hunger and social alienation.”
The minister said it was expected that with the withdrawal of the last portion of the relief package, more households and individuals would become vulnerable to hunger during the third wave.
While the price of maize meal, rice and flour decreased, the cost of cooking oil, sugar and sugar beans remained high.
“All meat prices have gone up – this is a typical trend during the winter months, when feed costs and energy costs increase. Margarine has gone up, and polony has shown significant spikes,” the report stated.
“High food prices continue to hurt low-income families and remove nutritious food off the plate while making families, particularly women and children, more vulnerable to disease.”
The report states that in June the average cost to feed a child a basic nutritious diet was R729,05.
“The child grant of R460 a month is 21% below the food poverty line of R585 per capita and a further 37% below the June 2021 cost of R729,05 to feed a child a basic nutritious diet.”
All meat prices have gone up – this is a typical trend during the winter months, where feed costs and energy costs increase. Margarine has gone up, and polony has shown significant spikes.
— Report
Abrahams said the crisis around child nutrition was deepening.
“We have written our fingers off over the years as to why it is absolutely critical for SA’s future health, education and economic outcomes that child nutrition is prioritised, and more recently that the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened an already very serious crisis.
“SA will face a future health implosion if women’s and children’s nutrition is not dealt with. Public clinics and hospitals will be overrun by very run-of-the-mill illnesses, which would normally be resisted through a nutritional plate of food.
“Women’s health is deteriorating, and it is likely that noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and other heart diseases, including complications with HIV and TB, will lead to higher mortality,” he said.
Abrahams also warned that high food prices and the lack of jobs “could lead to social disorder and social instability”.
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