A reflection on South Africa’s deepening hunger crisis, rooted in COVID-era suffering and widening inequality, calls for price controls and structural economic intervention, argues EFF Commissar Sam Matiase.
In the dark crucible of 2020, as the merciless grip of the COVID-19 pandemic tightened around our nation, I penned an urgent call to action. It was a plea born not from abstract theory, but from the raw, visceral suffering I witnessed in the townships, villages and rural expanses of our beloved South Africa.
Already then, the signs were unmistakable: extreme poverty and hunger gnawing at the fabric of our society, with undernourished children, families scavenging from dustbins and landfills, and the stark contrast of the wealthy stockpiling while monopolies and cartels drove up prices of basic staples.
That piece, titled “EFF Calls for Reduction of the Price of Bread and All Grain Products to Ease the Burden of Hunger on the Poor During COVID-19”, was a cry from the heart of the revolution.
Unfortunately, the then policy guru of the EFF, Floyd Shivambu, dismissed this intervention as irrational. In those fevered days of crisis, when every policy decision carried the weight of life and death, his rejection carried a profound sadness — one that lingers with me still.
