At last, the government has an action plan to end child stunting, which is caused by malnutrition.
South Africa’s high level of childhood stunting is a national crisis which has too often been ignored. Now it has the high-level attention it deserves.
In his State of the Nation Address last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a plan to end child stunting by 2030.
“This is a massive crisis that demands attention and resources,” he declared.
“More than a quarter of children under 5 are stunted, increasing their risk of disease and affecting their ability to learn and grow.
“This is devastating for children and their families and has an impact on our society as a whole.”
FairPlay founder Francois Baird welcomed the announcement. FairPlay has for years highlighted the damage that malnutrition does to poor families and their children, and has termed South Africa’s high level of child stunting “a shameful statistic”.
Child stunting is preventable – it is caused by severe malnutrition before birth and in the early years of life – but it stops millions of South African children developing to their full physical and mental potential.
“In a wealthy country that produces plenty of food, child malnutrition is getting worse,” Baird noted.
“In 2024, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) estimated that 28.8% of children under five were stunted. This was an increase on an earlier major survey which put the total at 27%.”
President Ramaphosa said the government would embark on a mission to end child stunting by 2030 and tackle malnutrition among young children.
“We will focus on the crucial first 1,000 days of a child’s life. Building on existing support such as the Child Support Grant, we will implement targeted interventions to ensure that pregnant women and low birth-weight children get the protein and nutrients that they need.”
FairPlay pointed out that the 2030 target date for ending child stunting aligns with the target dates set in South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP) in 2012, and the United Nations social development goals (SDGs).
“It has been an official but largely ignored goal for the past 13 years, while the number of stunted children has increased. FairPlay hopes that the presidential drive, with action, personnel and funding, means it is no longer a forgotten cause,” Baird said.
President Ramaphosa said funding for the campaign to end stunting would be announced in the medium-term budget policy statement later this year.
Baird said this could mean that nothing will happen until next year.
“A more immediate and very direct intervention would be to remove the 15% value-added tax (VAT) from the chicken portions most consumed by low-income households.
“VAT-free chicken would be a quick and easily implemented dietary boost for poor families and their children, providing essential vitamins and nutrients to support or complement the nutritional programme that is to come,” Baird stated.
