EDITORIAL | Civil society alone can’t keep people from starving. The state must step in

Since the start of lockdown, feeding the poor and destitute has been mostly driven by ordinary folk who could not wait for government to get the ball rolling.

Think the rollout of the unemployment grant, the TERS fiasco, social assistance grants and, probably the biggest blight of all, the closure of the school feeding scheme.

The closure of schools under hard lockdown — a necessary step — left already vulnerable children who depended on the scheme with empty stomachs. Often they received their only meal a day from the programme.

Adding to the shame was that the situation threw into sharp contrast an already failing system, with civil society groups having to lodge numerous court actions to make sure government delivered on its commitment to keep the scheme going.

Some schools even defied their provincial education departments during the hard lockdown to keep providing meals.

All interesting background to a report by director-general of basic education Mathanzima Mweli last week when he responded to lobby groups that have been vigorously campaigning for meals to be provided to all pupils. In it he said 1,5 million youngsters were still not receiving food.

Nine million pupils at 21,000 schools in SA qualify for the government’s National School Nutrition Programme.

The national education department and its MECs in the nine provincial departments have been compelled by a high court judgment to provide regular reports on the provision of meals to pupils to Equal Education, Equal Education Law Centre and Section 27.

Civil society has carried the load so far, but the pandemic is fast eroding any capacity it has to keep doing so.

With two Limpopo school governing bodies they secured a historic victory in July last year after the high court in Pretoria ordered the department to provide food to all qualifying pupils, regardless of whether they were at school or not.

The court challenge was triggered by the dire predicament facing millions of hungry pupils last year who were not benefiting from the scheme during the hard lockdown when schools were closed for many grades.

This week, a survey by gig technology company M4Jam among its temporary and short-term workers found the cost of living for South Africans has become as pressing as the country’s need for the Covid-19 vaccination rollout.

People are cutting back on groceries, healthcare, airtime, data and clothing.

The picture is bleak. According to the survey many of those who lost regular work as a result of lockdown restrictions and social distancing or cannot find work because of the economic devastation now also face rising costs as a threat to their survival.

This eroding of resources makes the fight to keep children fed even more poignant. All the talk about children being the future and access to education being a basic right is nullified if the means to make that possible for them is not forthcoming.

Civil society has carried the load so far, but the pandemic is fast eroding any capacity it has to keep doing so. As households sink deeper into trouble and there is less money to spread around, what is set in motion is a vicious cycle of debt, reckless lending, unpaid bills and people going hungry.

Those who chose to lead and happily accept the handsome remuneration that comes with it must step up to the plate. They are standing on the shoulders of communities that are unable to carry them any more.