Maverick Citizen has launched the third season of its food justice podcast, What’s Eating Us. The season examines the South African food system, from farmworkers' conditions to urban food insecurity and policy gaps. Host Zukiswa Pikoli shares stories from travels across the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and Johannesburg.
Maverick Citizen launched the third season of What’s Eating Us on March 31, 2026. Hosted and produced by Zukiswa Pikoli, with co-production by Lillian Roberts and editing by Martin Nkanyiso Ngwenya, the episodes are recorded at Flame Studios at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg.
Pikoli travelled to the Western Cape to interview farmworkers, including seasonal worker Charmaine King in Stellenbosch. King discussed pesticide exposure, poor working and living conditions, food insecurity despite producing food, and hopes for better wages and protections. With support from the Women on Farms Project, the team visited De Doorns and Stellenbosch in July 2025, highlighting winter food insecurity affecting 88% of women farmworkers in the Northern Cape, per a study by Stephen Devereux and Lauren Taverner-Smith.
In the Eastern Cape, Pikoli visited Nqileni village and Bulungula, speaking with subsistence farmer Nothembile Malaile and the Equality Collective. The NGO addresses early childhood development and policy gaps, noting that 89.3% of Eastern Cape public school learners depend on the National School Nutrition Programme, while ECD centres receive a R24 subsidy per child—if registered.
Back in Johannesburg, Pikoli explored food insecurity in Bertrams and an alternative organic grocery store. The season also covers national poverty figures, with 40.8 million South Africans below the upper-bound poverty line and 10.8 million below the food poverty line, alongside discussions on policies, government, and initiatives like SAHarvest and The People's Pantry.
