A national inquiry by the South African Human Rights Commission in March found that hunger is worsening due to persistent inequality, unemployment and rising food costs. The findings highlight how post-apartheid gains have been reversed since the 2008 financial crisis.
South Africa records the highest income inequality among countries with comparable data, with a Gini coefficient of 0.63. The wage Gini stands at 0.69, as the top decile holds between 71 and 85 percent of total wealth while the bottom 50 percent holds only 4 to 7 percent.
In 2023, 18.2 million out of 60 million South Africans lived in extreme poverty on less than 1.90 US dollars a day. Poverty has remained flat at around 62 to 63 percent since 2008, according to World Bank figures.
More than 1,000 children die from malnutrition each year. Severe acute malnutrition rates rose 33 percent between 2020 and 2022 and increased a further 20 percent by mid-2023. One in four children is stunted.
The National Food and Nutrition Security Plan for 2018 to 2023 fell short of targets due to budget limits and expired without a replacement. The national food and nutrition security council has not met.