The paltry child support grant of just R430 a month is insufficient to significantly impact malnutrition rates among South Africa’s children, and it’s time for President Cyril Ramaphosa to step in and do something about it.
The Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Mr Buti Manamela, on Tuesday addressed the United Nations Week of Science and Peace Conference, a first for South Africa. The UN’s World Science Day for Peace and Development highlights the role of science in society and the need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues.
The people who produce the food that we eat in South Africa are most likely to go hungry. Some people think that this issue can only be resolved by redistributing land. Others think that wages must improve.
More than a third of students at universities in South Africa are suffering from what is being described as a hidden hunger crisis. Once their fees are paid, there is little money left to pay for accommodation or to buy food.
It is time to take a much more careful look at supermarkets which use their market and corporate power to push smaller players and SMMEs — South African and foreign-owned — out of South Africa’s township economy.
Food insecurity at tertiary institutions is aptly described as `the skeleton in universities` cupboards` because it receives so little attention. Those in higher education are assumed to be an elite whose minimum basic needs are met. But a study of 34 colleges and uni- versities in the US found that 48% of students experience food insecurity, and 22% hunger.
To see if the current levy is indeed changing how much sugary beverages South Africans drink, researchers at the Centre of Excellence in Food Security are conducting a survey in the Langa community in the Western Cape.
Social protection responses to the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa
Poor and vulnerable South Africans, including domestic, farm, service sector, and self-employed workers as well as children from poor families, face a double shock. COVID-19 is a major health risk that has already claimed tens of thousands of lives worldwide and is starting to claim lives in South Africa. On 23 April South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a set of safety net interventions to “cushion our society” against the economic and human consequences of the lockdown.