Eusebius Mckaiser on Radio 702 hosted a one-hour panel and call-in show on rights to food security during the Covid-19 pandemic, with panellists Dr Tracy Ledger, Mervyn Abrahams, Mazibuko Jara & Jane Battersby-Lennard.
@drtracyledger says “Policymakers have little to no idea about how most SAfricans access food. Poor people don’t use supermarkets like the middle class. Assuming they are the same is completely inaccurate.”
“Covid-19 hasn’t created a food crisis, it’s exacerbated it. The reality in SA is the more poor you are, the more invisible.”
“Children have a S28 right to food. There is nothing more dehumanising than not being able to provide your child with food. We are dehumanising people and creating hideous places for people to live. We cannot charity away people’s fundamental rights.”
“Ten of thousands of businesses have been doing government’s job of feeding people, and now they’ve been rendered ineffective… Small farmers have been decimated by corporations. We have prioritised corporate profits over S27 rights.”
“One third of South Africans eat for less than R120 per person per week. In solidarity, we should all try to feed ourselves on this budget and see if it is viable.”
“Every single informal trader should be put back in business with provisions for social distancing that government can put in place.”
