During his recent state of the nation address (Sona), President Cyril Ramaphosa painted a sobering picture of the country’s nutritional crisis. More than a quarter of South African children under the age of five are stunted, a condition that increases their risk of disease and limits their ability to learn and grow.

The president announced the state will embark on a mission to end child stunting by 2030 and tackle malnutrition among young children. It will be achieved by building on existing support, such as the child support grant (CSG), focusing on the vital first thousand days of a child’s life from conception.

Targeted interventions will ensure pregnant women and low birth-weight children receive optimal nutrition during this critical developmental period.

While the vision has been welcomed, experts caution that policy ambition must be matched by fiscal commitment. NWU nutritionist Prof. Christine Taljaard-Krugell commended Ramaphosa for keeping child stunting on the national agenda. But the true measure of the government’s resolve will be reflected in the national budget to be presented on Wednesday (25/2).

Government has made “some big promises”, and it’s shown the political will regarding various related nutrition outcomes, whether breastfeeding or stunting, she said. “But the question is what we will see with the budget, and I think that will really show commitment.”

Prof. Christine Taljaard-Krugell commended Ramaphosa for keeping child stunting on the national agenda. Photo: NWU

Funding alone will not solve the crisis, she said. We also know budget is a key building block, but we also need to see action, we need to see different sectors collaborating, working together if we really want to see decreasing stunting.”

In his budget speech, finance minister Enoch Godongwana is expected to highlight improvements in South Africa’s public finances that could pave the way for a sovereign credit-rating outlook upgrade.

He will also introduce the Appropriation Bill and table the 2026 Division of Revenue Bill. These pieces of legislation will be considered and processed by Parliament in the months ahead.

NWU economist Prof. Waldo Krugell. Photo: NWU

“The plan had clear intent and potential, but that potential was not realised because of slow implementation, weak coordination, including delays in convening key structures, and resources that were budgeted but not made available,” said Taljaard-Krugell.

Meanwhile, NWU economist Prof. Waldo Krugell argued the best-case scenario would be for Godongwana to use some of his commodity tax windfall with “genuine ambition and strategic focus”.

“For the 2025/26 budget, it would also be possible to fast-track the idea of a maternal support grant in pilot form, learning from the Khulisa Care model, with automatic conversion to the child support grant at birth registration.

More resources required

“It would help to close the CSG take-up gap if the government were to simplify documentation requirements and enable hospital-based registration at birth. Plans for the medium term would require more resources that will only be available if the economy grows at a faster pace.”

With that constraint in mind, he said, both academics advocate for:

• increasing the child support grant to at least the food poverty line (R855/month), phased in over two to three years;
• scaling the Khulisa Care voucher model nationally, potentially with multiple retail partners. Khulisa Care is an initiative launched by the Western Cape government aimed at preventing child stunting; and
• expanding and optimising the ECD nutrition programme in tandem with the Bana Pele registration drive, ensuring that every registered child receives at least one nutritious meal per day.

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OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi