The South African Human Rights Commission SAHRC has called for a state of disaster to be declared and urgent action to be taken to resolve a hunger crisis in the Eastern Cape.
If the recommendations it presented to government are not applied, the commission said it would consider taking the government on in court.
A Constitutional rightSection 27 of South Africas Constitution states that every citizen is entitled to sufficient food and water. Furthermore, the Constitution imposes a constitutional duty on the state to enact legislative and other measures to progressively realise the right to sufficient food by taking reasonable steps to ensure its full enjoyment.
While this right is progressively realised for all citizens, it is an absolute right for children to have access to basic nutrition, as outlined in Section 281c of the Constitution.
A staggering 27 of children in South Africa have stunted growth due to malnutrition and 61 of children under the age of five have iron deficiency.
