SA Depressed As Stats Reveal That a 5th of South African Households Are Starving

• Statistics reveal that 20% of the South African population does not have enough food to survive through the month
• The stats also showed that there has been an increase in the number of people who rely on social grants
• South Africans who weighed in blamed the government for the condition of the economy and for the rampant joblessness

Tebogo Mokwena, a dedicated Briefly News current affairs journalist, contributed coverage of international and local social issues, including health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests, and immigration in South Africa, during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

JOHANNESBURG —Approximately 3.5 million families do not have enough food to survive, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), and it attributes this to high unemployment levels and an increase in food inflation.

According to eNCA, the number of South Africans who rely on social grants has also increased. StatsSA's Solly Molayi said that in 2023, eight percent of households did not have enough food to survive. He said households classified as moderate to severe are over 19%. Molayi said that food insecurity is one of the contributing factors.

Read also

Uganda denies having deal with United States to host deportees, SA says: "Africa is not a dustbin"

Molayi also said that female-headed households are more vulnerable to food insecurity. He remarked that in households where nobody is working, the food insecurity is classified as moderate to severe. Molayi remarked that a majority of these households have one member who has a social grant. He added that the increase in households correlates with an increase in social grant dependents.

What is causing poverty in SA?

Molayi pointed out that poverty in South Africa is driven mainly by access to jobs and access to education. He said that the chances of getting a job with an education are high. He added that women are the hardest hit by unemployment. This comes after StatsSA released its latest unemployment figures, which showed that women were the hardest hit by unemployment.

StatsSA revealed in July that the consumer price inflation increased as food prices increased. The stats were released on 23 July nd showed that food inflation went up in June. Inflation for food groups, including meat, fish, milk, and eggs, increased.

Read also

"It's ridiculous": Gent breaks down how prepaid metering works in South Africa, Mzansi chimes in

What did South Africans say?

Netizens commenting on Facebook shared different opinions.

Siofiso Dlamini asked:

"What is John Steenhuisen doing about this as the Minister of Agriculture? Isn't food security one of his priorities in his portfolio, or is his attention to serve the county conflicted with serving the DA?"

Charles Erasmus said:

"They only interviewed a few people and they came up with that percentage, but in reality it's close to 60 percent."

Sakhile Mntambo Mboyiya said:

"It's time to go back into our villages and plant our food. nothing is growing in townships."

Fc Smit Junior said:

"What's new? It's South Africa. It has become normal."

Norman Dent said:

"But we can spend R750 million on a dialogue."

SA calls for supermarket regulation as food prices increase

In a related article, Briefly News reported that South Africans demanded that the supermarket industry be regulated. This was after the food basket increased.

Read also

“We’re choosing our own suffering”: SA discuss who they are voting for in 2028 elections in viral TikTok video

The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity's April 2025 Household Affordability Index revealed that an average household spent over R5,000 to fill up a food basket.

"It is time that stores are investigated for their prices. We are being ripped off," a netizen said.

Source: Briefly News