South Africa’s myriad challenges are not only widely reported on by various bodies from civil society, the private sector and the local and international media, but are also boldly written across the faces of children.
Children are a beauty to behold, but are also special human beings whose happiness — or lack thereof — reflects the state of any nation. “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children,” Nelson Mandela once stated. Madiba’s words resonate — and should make us look at ourselves closely and reflect on how child poverty affects the trajectory of the lives of children.
The challenges, headlined by the triple scourges of inequality, unemployment and poverty centre on children. In recent years, poverty has resulted in growing numbers of hungry children.
South African children are going through a lot and there are no clear, positive indications that we can change this. That children in Naledi, Soweto, die from eating contaminated food should indicate that we need to do more about the upkeep and health of our children — it’s in our best interests as a nation to know what our children consume and where goods are sourced.
In his book The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon says: “Each generation must discover its mission, fulfil it or betray it, in relative opacity.” Whether you are a parent from the Xennial generation or raising a child who is part of the Alpha generation, there is an urgency for us to do better and seek answers that would define a better tomorrow for our children, their peers and the generations that we will not see. And in seeking, understand the better decisions we need to make for them in the interests of a better tomorrow: A better South Africa run by a generation that understands the importance of a past generation that “discovered its mission” and worked hard to fulfil it, while being transparent about the dire status quo of children at that time.
That transparency must reflect how we have tackled or failed to address the problem of 13-million children who still go hungry across South Africa. The dire poverty experienced across rural and urban living spaces is often frowned upon; there are unanswered questions whether we are doing the right things to get different results for our children. Yet, little action is taken.
Over the years, the private and public sectors have done their bit to alleviate the impact of this scourge, but what remains prevalent is that these efforts have yet to gain traction; there is still no indication that significant progress is being made.
Annually, the Treasury allocates various budgets aimed at assisting departments, such as social development, basic education, health, and sport and recreation, to alleviate the impact of hunger.
But why are we not winning this battle?
Why do we have children going to bed hungry?
Why are children in our land wasting away from hunger?
Why do we have so many resources, intended to assist children, not reaching the very children they are meant to benefit?
We need to start thinking differently if we are to win this battle. We need different interventions. We require a multi-pronged approach involving the government and private sector that considers how to resolve aspects such as health access, immigration, human settlements, education and economic opportunities.
The dire poverty experienced across in rural and urban living spaces is often frowned upon; there are unanswered questions whether we are doing the right things to get different results for our children
We also need to consider how the whole of Southern Africa, the African regions and other parts of the world can begin talking about a solution — one that equally addresses regional superpowers and how best to accommodate the most vulnerable, particularly children.
These interventions would involve stakeholders such as Unicef in explaining why we should address challenges about children not going to school because they are hungry, or being made to beg at traffic intersections for whatever purpose an adult deems fit.
In South Africa, the economic impact, with regard to the fiscus contribution and results, is astronomical, with direct and indirect costs of close to R700bn. Yet, there are no clear signs of marked progress regarding poverty alleviation.
The figure above — broken down — means the government, the private sector and NGOs spend around R51,000 per child per annum, or around R4,250 per month (based on 13-million impoverished children).
While the budgetary allocation for efforts to help children stave off hunger is notable, it is estimated to be R1.3 -trillion, or 18% of South Africa's gross domestic product.
Last year, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and Deloitte Africa released their State of the South African Child Report, which highlighted challenges such as continuing obstacles to children’s development and well-being, and the gradual decline in alleviating child poverty.
What is the actual cost of children going hungry in Postmasburg, Cape Flats, Makhanda, Nongoma, Hlohlolwane, Bronkhorstspruit, Lydenburg, Mogalakwena or Vryburg?
Our focus needs to be on what we can do differently — the reality is there are budget allocations that seek to address the problem. Yet, there are no notable results, pointing out how we need to review if the policy is making any impact.
We can do better if we seek to understand the main drivers of child poverty, how to identify these, the solutions, the dimensions that prevent eradicating child poverty, and what we truly need to invest in to address the problem.
We need to work towards a solution that strengthens effective child poverty alleviation programmes and demonstrates how these solutions can bring meaningful change on the ground. We should start with the nine areas mentioned above and establish meaningful collaboration among public, private, civil society and other interested parties, with a singular focus on accelerating the alleviation of child poverty.
• Ncube-Nkomo, CA (SA), PhD, is the CEO of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.