Poverty in a lunchbox: A pie, a phone and the cost of a child’s dignity

A few days ago I watched a short video that has since circulated widely online. It showed a Grade 1 classroom having a Pie Day fundraiser at Thembalethu Primary School in George where pupils who paid a contribution received a pie and juice. Children sat at their desks eating pies, while one pupil, who had no money to participate, hid his face and withdrew.

The video was filmed by the class teacher, who at the same time addressed pupils in a harsh tone. She also spoke to parents on a WhatsApp group, and the clip was later shared in that group before going viral on social media. Reports indicate that the teacher had previously bought some school supplies for the pupil and bought a pie and juice for him after the video was recorded.

Poverty in plain sight

Watching the video left me unsettled. Not simply because of the conduct of an adult in a classroom, but because of what that moment revealed about how easily poverty can become something to humiliate in South Africa. In a country where millions of families struggle to afford basic necessities, the idea that a child could be singled out and filmed for not having money for a pie is deeply troubling.

But the video also forces us to confront something more uncomfortable. Poverty does not exist only in statistics or reports. It also exists in classrooms, in lunchboxes and in the quiet ways children try to hide what their families cannot afford.

The statistics themselves tell a sobering story. According to Statistics South Africa, nearly half of all children in South Africa live below the poverty line, making them the most vulnerable group in the country.

Unicef estimates that about 23% of children live in severe food poverty, meaning they do not have consistent access to nutritious food. For many children, being without is something they learn to manage silently. They learn not to ask, not to stand out, not to reveal too much.

Poverty vs lacking

What the video captured was that silence breaking in the worst possible way. The difference between poverty and lacking is often overlooked. Poverty is a structural condition shaped by history, inequality and socioeconomic exclusion. Going without is the everyday experience of that condition. It is what a child feels when they must sit out while others participate. In that moment, something as small as a pie becomes a reminder of what they do not have.

Schools are meant to be spaces where children are protected from those moments of humiliation. They are meant to be places where dignity is preserved even when circumstances are difficult. That expectation is not simply moral and constitutional. It is embedded in our shared humanity, our ubuntu, and in the belief that a child is raised by a village that also includes our schools and teachers.

Children’s rights and dignity

Our Constitution places human dignity at the centre of our democratic order. It protects the right to dignity and privacy and recognises that children deserve particular protection from neglect, abuse and degradation. Section 28 also affirms that a child’s best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning them.

And yet, in a moment like this, what about the child’s right to privacy under section 14? Schools therefore carry a responsibility that goes beyond teaching literacy and numeracy. They help shape how children see themselves and their place in society. When a child is filmed because he could not afford to participate in a Pie Day, that responsibility is compromised, it is even worse when a child is sidelined in a public school because his family cannot afford to pay.

Digital exposure and legal protections

There is a further dimension that reflects how we behave in a digital age. Smartphones and social media make it easy to record moments instantly and share them widely, often without reflection. Yet when the subject of that recording is a child, particularly a child in a vulnerable position, the consequences are serious.

South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act places clear obligations on those who collect and share personal information. Images and videos of children cannot be treated lightly, especially when they reveal something deeply personal about a pupil’s circumstances. Our courts have repeatedly affirmed this principle.

In NM vs Smith the Constitutional Court held that publishing private information without consent violates the rights to dignity and privacy. Similarly, in Centre for Child Law vs Media24 the court stressed that children must be protected from unnecessary public exposure that could harm their dignity and wellbeing. When recordings of pupils are circulated without care or consent, particularly in moments of vulnerability, the law recognises that real harm can follow.

Systemic issues in schools

It would be easy to dismiss this incident as the mistake of a teacher. Doing so would allow the public conversation to move on quickly. But the reality is that what happened in that classroom is not entirely unusual. Across the country, school fundraising activities often expose the economic divides that exist among pupils. Civvies days, food days, trips and contribution-based activities can quietly separate children who have from those who do not.

Most of the time these moments pass unnoticed by the wider public. The difference here is that a phone camera captured it. The video did not create the harm; it revealed it. That revelation forced public outrage because many South Africans instinctively understood that something was deeply wrong.

For many of us, that video recalled our own school days, when some of us were excluded or we observed others excluded because their parents or guardians could not afford to pay. A child should never feel compelled to hide his face in a classroom because his family could not afford something as small as a pie!

Protecting children’s dignity in schools

In a society still marked by profound inequality, the small moments inside schools matter. They shape how children experience dignity and belonging. A child who is treated with care learns that their worth is not measured by what they can pay for. A child who is shamed for lacking learns a far more damaging lesson.

That video should not only prompt disciplinary processes or investigations. It should also force us to reflect on how easily poverty and being without can become visible in ways that humiliate the very people who carry its burden. Children do not choose the circumstances into which they are born. They should not have to hide their poverty in front of their peers, and certainly not in front of a camera.

The way forward and critical questions

In a country where inequality continues to shape everyday life, the least we can do is ensure that our schools and classrooms remain places where dignity is protected and where equality is enforced. Being without is difficult enough, it should never become something a child is humiliated for, especially by a teacher, who is supposed to act as a parent away from home.

That video exposed this failure, ensuring it could not remain hidden, but it does not excuse the conduct. Moments like this should never be made a mockery of. Children should not be exposed to such harmful and degrading moments or forced to hide their faces in shame for circumstances they did not choose.

We must also ask whether our education system and school cultures protect children adequately. Do teachers need training and clear policies that keep fundraising from becoming a mechanism of exclusion? We need teachers who understand our society’s dynamics, not those who shame children to teach parents a lesson they cannot afford.

School governing bodies and education departments must create contribution systems that do not mark children by lack. Parents and communities must protect pupils from exposure that can cause lifelong harm. Civil society and the media have an important role in highlighting incidents that demand accountability. At the same time, care must be taken not to repeat the harm by exposing the child further. The balance lies in drawing attention to systemic issues without making the child a public show.

The question now is not only whether the teacher will be held to account, which must happen, but whether our children are safe in schools that are supposed to be free, equal, safe and caring. DM

Mpho Makhubela is an activist, communications officer at Lawyers for Human Rights, a member of the Media Working Group of Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia and a Tshwane Urban Activist.