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In the news: 

'Desperate' EC mother kills her children before taking own life (702.co.za)

‘Death by hunger’: Eastern Cape tragedy caused because there wasn’t enough food (iol.co.za)

 

Those in the know within the SAPS say the death of four females in the Tholeni Administrative area of Butterworth, Eastern Cape on the morning of 6 August is not a new phenomenon. Many such cases have been recorded and closed with the words "no foul play suspected". The docket cannot be labelled "murder and death by hunger", this can only be assumed due to recurrent similar incidents. The tragic case of the Buso family is yet another example of "no foul play", a mother feeds Rattex to her two younger children, stabs the elder daughter in the neck and then hangs herself presumably because there wasn't enough food to poison all four family members. The circumstances leading to the deaths cannot be proved but the SAPS, Department of Social Development and the community are unanimous that poverty and hunger are the principal causative factors. 

Gift of the Givers has been commenting for years now on the escalating level of hunger in our country. Hunger is an insidious psychological, emotional and physical pain consuming parents as they lose hope and watch in anguish how their children and families waste away. Lockdown level 5 during Covid-19 brought to the fore and accentuated levels of hunger. In Peddie a mother collects a food parcel from us and says "Speak to my children, they will tell you the taste of every plant in the area, they've been eating plants for three months to survive".

Gift of the Givers intervened with hundreds of thousands of food parcels, supported hundreds of soup kitchens, and promoted food gardens for sustainability yet it was never enough. In 2022 we noticed increasing numbers of children dying from malnutrition in the Eastern Cape and expanded our support with R30 million of eezee peanut paste and Genesis, both products being fortified and nutritionally enriched. Recently, in every fire and flood disaster, we have responded to the levels of hunger that were glaring. Not only the victims but the community as a whole was hungry long before the disaster. We would increase our feeding from a three to a seven-day service and include everyone. The gratitude was visible in the eyes. 

As a nation, our compassion and spirit of generosity cannot allow another tragic incident yet again. Learners at ECD, primary, secondary and tertiary levels in increasing numbers are challenged with hunger. Corporate SA has been generous but a larger percentage of the CSI budget has to be dedicated to hunger alleviation. Feeding another child or adult is a test of our humanity, this is not a government, corporate or high-earner responsibility but a collective responsibility of all South Africans with whatever excess we have to share.

Creating apprenticeships and employment for youth with a decent stipend would significantly contribute to reducing hunger in each household by a number of seven.

Gift of the Givers has already received calls from Peddie and Wesley today for increased bulk food to deal with malnutrition.

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