Wednesday, 17 September 2025

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is appalled by the recent statistics presented to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) by the Director-General of the National Department of Health, revealing that 177 children in the Eastern Cape died from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the last 18 months alone. Most horrifying is the fact that 70 of these deaths occurred in the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, a number which confirms the continued failure of the state to protect the most vulnerable, black children living in poverty.

This catastrophe comes in the wake of Parliament’s adoption of the SAHRC’s damning 2023 report on the prevalence of child malnutrition in the Eastern Cape. The report, which followed a provincial inquiry, exposed institutional neglect, rampant underexpenditure of R500 million, and the systematic exclusion of children under five from nutritional programmes such as the National School Nutrition Programme.

The SAHRC made concrete and urgent recommendations: increase the child support grant above the food poverty line, extend feeding schemes to early childhood development centres, and improve coordination between government departments. However, true to the character of the ruling elite, these recommendations were ignored, shelved, or treated with disdain and now, 70 children are dead as a direct consequence.

The EFF places the blame on rampant corruption and incompetent leadership in the Eastern Cape by the ANC led government. The province has become a blueprint for governance failure, plagued by chronic poverty, collapsing infrastructure, and an economy that does not sustain the dignity of its people. It is the poorest province in the country with over 880,000 people living in abject poverty, most of them in remote rural areas abandoned by the state.

The SAHRC has already indicated that, based on current trends, child deaths from malnutrition are likely to increase further in the current financial year, yet there is no plan, no urgency, and no accountability. The Premier of the Eastern Cape, Oscar Mabuyane, could not even bring himself to voluntarily appear before the SAHRC. Instead, the Commission had to subpoena him, a disgraceful act of defiance that highlights the deep contempt the political elite holds for Chapter 9 institutions and the Constitution itself.

The Commission, a constitutional body tasked with safeguarding human rights, has warned of a humanitarian disaster in the province. It even recommended that the provincial government declare a state of disaster, a measure that would have unlocked emergency funding to confront the malnutrition crisis. However, Mabuyane and his government refused, choosing political preservation over the lives of children.

The EFF further condemns the failure of coordination between local, provincial, and national spheres of government, where bureaucratic red tape and leadership paralysis have blocked any meaningful intervention. Instead of acting on well-researched reports and data, this government has wasted millions of rands on empty dialogues, meaningless commissions, and cosmetic campaigns, while children are dying of hunger.

At a time when decisive action was needed, the austerity-driven budget cuts imposed by National Treasury and supported by the so-called Government of National Unity (GNU) have only worsened the crisis, slashing funding for health, social development, and food security.

The EFF, therefore, calls for the immediate resignation of Eastern CapePremier Oscar Mabuyane, MEC for Social Development Bukiwe Fanta, and MEC for Health Ntandokazi Capa. They have shown themselves to be unfit for public office and bear full political responsibility for these preventable deaths. Had they acted when the crisis was first raised, had they respected the SAHRC’s authority, and had they declared a disaster as recommended, 70 young lives could have been saved.

ISSUED BY ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Sinawo Thambo (National Spokesperson) 072 629 7422

Thembi Msane (National Spokesperson) 061 467 8169

Andiswa Madikazi (Parliament Media Liason) 069 516 4924

Thato Lebyane (Media Inquiries) 078 563 1581