SECTION27 and the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) have approached the court on behalf of a number of learners, parents, teachers and school governing bodies in an attempt to get the government to feed millions of children who have gone hungry since the schools closed during the Covid-19 lockdown.

It was hoped that, once schools started re-opening, the school feeding schemes, which are planned and budgeted for, would resume in full. However, the Minister and the Department of Basic Education have opted, for now, to only feed Grade 7 and 12 children.

SECTION27 and EELC have filed a number of affidavits on behalf of their clients – Equal Education and the School Governing Bodies of two schools.

Maverick Citizen has been given access to affidavits from the SECTION27 and EELC clients and they make for harrowing reading. They tell a story of extreme hunger and poverty, but also of a government that has to be dragged to court to compel them to feed children who desperately need one meal a day, who have no source of food other than the school feeding scheme.

Learners’ affidavits, particularly, make for stomach-churning reading, but it is important to read their stories to try to understand the lived realities of people in small, off-the-map, far-flung villages in South Africa. People, even worse children, going hungry in South Africa is unforgivable. It is also important to pay tribute to the bravery of teachers, parents, school governing bodies and learners who are speaking out despite being fearful of intimidation and losing their jobs.

We publish extracts from 15 affidavits and even though these documents will become public in the courts, SECTION27 and EELC requested that we do not identify their clients by name for fear of intimidation.

Affidavit 7

‘Whereas when the children are being fed at school the food we buy lasts until the end of the month, now the children are always asking for more food and we do not have enough.’

Florence (not real name) lives in the Zamazama area, near Manguzi, in northern KwaZulu-Natal. She lives in a household of 12 people with her husband.

“There are four children in our household who attend school.  They are my grandchildren, a girl in grade 9 (aged 15); a girl in grade 3 (aged 10); a girl in grade R (aged 5); and a boy in grade R (aged 5). 

“All the school-going children are recipients of the child support grant although I only receive money from (three of the children’s) mother. (One of the other children’s) mother collects the child support grant but does not give me any of the money. Our household includes a 2-year-old boy who receives a disability grant. He is unable to sit upright on his own and is still very reliant on assistance from other members of the family. I stopped working (in the form of small-scale farming and selling clothes) in order that I would be able to look after him. 

“All four of my school-going grandchildren are still home and are not receiving nutritious meals because the schools are not yet opening up the National School Nutrition programme to all learners. They are always hungry and wanting something to eat or drink. 

“My husband as well as my four adult sons are unemployed. My eldest grandson is also unemployed so nobody in the household is working. Our only stable source of income is the disability grant of about R1900 as well as the R1000 we receive from (the three children’s) mother and this comes from the child support grant. I sometimes make money selling peanuts but I have to wait to harvest them. I support twelve people (5 children and 7 adults) on R 2900 per month.

“It is always a challenge when I have to cater for my family. I spend about R1,000 to feed my entire family. I still have to buy nappies for about R300, then formula for about R300, baby food and porridges, toiletries and some clothes for (the disabled child). I keep whatever is left over to use for transport in case I need to take him to the hospital.

“I try to supplement the R2,900 worth of groceries whenever I can through collecting firewood and selling peanuts. The groceries typically consist of 50kg of maize meal, 10kg of rice, 5kg of beans and some soup. I have not been able to plant any fruits or vegetables.

“The four school-going children ordinarily receive a meal at school every day through the National School Nutrition Programme. This meal makes a difference in our family. The rest of our food lasts longer. The food that the children receive at school is nutritious and is helping them to grow and I have witnessed this with all of my children who are now adults.

“Since the schools have been closed, the children have not been receiving food at school. The only reason that we have any groceries at the end of the month is that it is difficult to eat dry phuthu without anything else. It has been impossible to keep the children and the rest of the household properly fed. Whereas when the children are being fed at school, the food we buy lasts until the end of the month, now the children are always asking for more food and we do not have enough. I have been buying from an area called Skhemelele, nearby, when we have money.

“I have not received any social assistance at this time. I am not eligible for the COVID-19 grant because I receive Lwandile’s disability grant. I was also denied the grant allocated to caregivers of elderly or disabled people. We have not received any food parcels, donations or benefitted from COVID-19 related social assistance programmes. Fortunately, I was able to teach myself how to make face masks so I have sewn a few and sold them for R10 each within the community.

“All four of my school-going grandchildren are still home and are not receiving nutritious meals because the schools are not yet opening up the National School Nutrition programme to all learners. They are always hungry and wanting something to eat or drink. 

“The suspension of school feeding has made our daily lives that much more challenging. We need the school feeding programme to start again so that the school-going children in our household can eat and we can buy food that we can all eat.” DM/MC