by Dr Chantell Witten
As we count down to Human Rights Day on Monday, we are acutely aware of the state’s failures to realise and satisfy the human rights enshrined in our Constitution and Bill of Rights, especially for children.
Since the dawn of democracy in South Africa in 1994 the country has struggled with a persistent high level of child malnutrition measured as stunting, when children are too short for their age.
This is not just shortness of height but it is a proxy for compromised health and a risk factor for lower cognitive development, lower education attainment and lower future productivity both in work output and in earning capabilities.
Unhealthy children are likely to be our future unhealthy adults and compromise human development. It is for this reason that all efforts must be explored to protect children from hunger.
Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic more than two years ago, there have been huge negative impacts on global health and development which are bearing down on the youngest members of the planet, our children.
These impacts on children are costing their lives now and well into the future.
South Africa has the largest social protection programme for children on the African continent with a child support grant that benefits more than 12 million children under the age of 18 years.
On February 23, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that the child support grant would increase from R460 to R480 a month as from April 1.
A mere 4% increase, against a year-on-year food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation of 5.5%, rendering the already measly child support grant ineffective to keep hunger at bay, much less to address the nutrition children need to grow and be healthy.
Section 28 of the Bill of Rights in our Constitution states that “every child has the right to basic nutrition, shelter, health care and social services, as well as the right to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation”.
But with the high levels of child malnutrition, almost one in three children are stunted, while one in four households reported child hunger. This is a result of the failure to protect children.
The Black Sash, undertook research with the South African Medical Research Council to explore how households receiving the child support grant managed with respect to food procurement and dietary patterns.
I was approached to assist with child nutrition data interpretation and policy implications.
It was not surprising to find that all 12 households included in this qualitative study were not able to cope or meet their food needs.
These households’ food purchasing patterns were insufficient in quantity and in dietary quality. All household members were not able to eat regularly or sufficiently to keep hunger at bay.
The most heart-wrenching finding is the constant experience of trauma faced by caregivers to provide food for their hungry children. Caregivers expressed feelings of shame and guilt knowing that their children are hungry.
The child support grant is not enough to protect children from chronic hunger, which itself is “maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation as enshrined in the South African Bill of Rights.
* Witten is with the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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