Hunger stalks 300 000 in Bay
Cash-short residents forced to skip meals Hundreds of thousands of Nelson Mandela Bay residents are skipping meals as they simply do not have enough money to buy food, with some missing as many as five days of meals a month. The bleak statistics show that more than 340 000 residents have run out of money to buy food, 240 000 have skipped meals, and 135 000 have skipped meals for more than five days in a month. These statistics, collated from the latest data gathered by Stats SA in 2016, paint a damning picture of a lack of food security in the metro. In the Eastern Cape, 1.3 million people are skipping meals due to poverty – double the number doing so in the Western Cape. The Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council’s statistics are backed up by preliminary data gathered by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) over the past two years, showing some families in Walmer Township and Wells Estate are living on between R30 and R50 a day. Despite the desperate plight of many Bay families, however, a case study has demonstrated what strong community support can produce. A survey of 100 households in Kwazakhele – where there are at least five neighbourhood gardens – has shown people are buying and eating fresh vegetables every day, developing a thriving local market. Professor Angela Mathee, director of the SAMRC Environment and Health Research Unit, said they had asked families how much money they spent on food a month. The answer, for Wells Estate, was an average R800 a month and, for Walmer Township, R1 500. Researchers found that families implemented strategies like reducing the variety of foods eaten and limiting portion sizes. Unathi Sihlahla, the programme director for Inmed South Africa’s project in Missionvale, said a baseline survey done when they started the project showed that about 12% of children in the schools they assisted were stunted due to malnutrition. For many who work with – and try to feed – children in these areas, the reality of hungry children is devastating. Blommie Notothiso, from the Penguins Learn & Care Centre in Walmer Township, said many children arrived incredibly hungry, especially on Monday mornings after a weekend of little food. She receives donations of porridge, which she feeds to her charges every morning. “They come very hungry on a Monday,” she said. “They don’t sing. They don’t want to play. You can see their power is off.” Notothiso looks after 50 children in a shack at the back of her house. She would love to have space for a vegetable garden. “Some people have gardens around here but they sell their vegetables,” she said. “Things are getting worse here. There is a lot of unemployment.” Synthia Breakfast, who looks after 56 children at the New Saints of Faith creche in Walmer Township, said residents were struggling. “We are trying our best to feed everybody who doesn’t have food,” she said. “There are children who don’t have anything to bring in a lunch box, but we make sure there is something for them. “If they don’t eat, they struggle to learn,” she said. Normoyle Primary School principal Janine Barlow said good nutrition contributed greatly to better grades. Children at her school are fed twice a day. “We feed them at 8am,” she said. “Sometimes you can see a child is really hungry. “They will find a 50c [coin] somewhere and buy a packet of chips on the street. “The way they eat those chips, you can see they are really hungry. They can’t wait for 8am.” Barlow said if there was leftover food, they would feed children who were still hungry at break time. Glenda Brunette, from the Walmer Angels organisation, said: “People are hungry.” When she drove through Airport Valley last week, a team from The Herald watched as children rushed over to her.
They were then seen clutching bags of porridge and packets of rice tightly to their chests. Another study to assess the risk of adult patients in the three public hospitals in Port Elizabeth found that the overall risk of malnutrition in adult patients was 72.3% (48.2% high risk and 24.1% medium risk), while 45.4% were malnourished. It found that the problem may be masked by inadequate resources leading to delays in reaching a diagnosis and introducing an appropriate nutritional intervention. Last year, Livingstone Hospital pharmacist Rial Klopper launched a food drive to ensure patients were fed once they went home. “Many patients do not have a steady income and only a handful qualify for grants,” he said. “Every employee at Livingstone Hospital knows that many of our patients return home from a sick bed with no form of income to buy basic needs. “It is well known by healthcare workers that patients default on their treatment at home because of a lack of food.” Health MEC Dr Pumza Dyantyi also published statistics last year showing that 20 children died between April 2016 and December last year of acute malnutrition in Nelson Mandela Bay hospitals. In her budget speech earlier this month, Social Development MEC Nancy Sihlwayi said her department remained committed to alleviating poverty and malnutrition through the establishment of 35 new household food gardens.
