DURBAN - The latest available research indicated that about 54% of South African households still experienced either hunger or the risk of hunger, the Centre of Excellence in Food Security said via a statement on Wednesday.
Despite this, food security received only two passing references in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) two weeks ago and not a single mention in finance minister Tito Mboweni's budget speech on Wednesday, said professor Julian May (University of the Western Cape), Dr Jane Battersby (University of Cape Town), Prof Rina Swart (University of the Western Cape) and Dr Bruno Losch (GovInn Centre, University of the Western Cape).
The four are executive and research members of the centre, which is hosted by UWC and the University of Pretoria.
Mboweni announced that he would allocate R1.8 billion for the implementation of 262 priority land-reform projects over the next three years and had set aside R3.7 billion to help emerging farmers to acquire land to farm.
He also increased the sugar tax on soft drinks, "but perhaps more as a revenue raising measure than an attempt to improve the health of South Africans," said the academics.