Programme Director, 
Premier of the Western Cape, Mr Alan Winde
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Member of Parliament,
Your Excellencies, representatives of the United Nations and the Africa Union,
Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University, Professor Deresh Ramjugernath, 
Director of the Centre for Social Justice and Law Trust Research Chair, Professor Thuli Madonsela,
Representatives of the judiciary and the legal fraternity,
Representatives of civil society, business, and academia, 
Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

Allow me to begin by thanking the Centre for Social Justice at Stellenbosch University, the United Nations and the Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation for organising this 7th Social Justice Summit.

Your Summit’s theme of “Social Justice, Food Security and Peace: Pathways to Equality, Solidarity, Sustainability and Climate Resilience” could not be more critical, nor more timely.

A question could be asked as to what social justice is? 

It can be said that social justice is a philosophical, political, and social process that aims to ensure the equitable distribution of wealth, opportunities, privileges, and resources within a society.

The Summit’s theme is aligned with our country’s National Nevelopment Plan 2030 which was adopted by Parliament in February 2013. 

The NDP's central goal is to foster social justice, eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. 

The NDP set a direct commitment to the social justice principles of equity and human rights and frames social justice not as a privilege, but as a right for all citizens. 

This year, 2025 - is when the countdown clock to 2030 begins in earnest. 

This is the deadline we set as a country for meeting the aspirations of the NDP. 

Countries of the world have also committed to themselves achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs by 2030.

What we know is that progress towards achieving both the NDP and the SDG’s is way off course. 

The 10-year review of the NPD showed that despite considerable gains, in the main there remains a wide gap between ambition and delivery in critical areas. 

With respect to the SDGs, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that with so many global targets not being met or having even regressed, the promise of the SDG’s risks fading into obscurity. 

In both instances there have been recommendations of urgent course correction.

It is our earnest wish that this important summit you are holding today will be going into the granular detail of what this entails, how it can be done, and what sustainable outcomes can be secured.

While the NDP's vision is deeply rooted in social justice, its implementation has faced a number of challenges - highlighting the gap between policy and practice. 
Some of the challenges are exemplified by the 2024 General Household Survey produced by Statistics South Africa. 

It says that many people continue to experience inadequate or severely inadequate access to food.
Severe acute malnutrition remains a challenge. 

Despite a range of interventions being implemented by the Departments of Health and Social Development, cases have increased by approximately 26 per cent over the past five years.

At a global level, countries are being confronted with the dire effects of hunger, food insecurity and the associations with climate change.

Freedom from hunger is both a moral and developmental imperative. 

Food is recognised as a universal right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in our own Bill of Rights. 

The right of everyone to have access to sufficient food and water, and the duty imposed on the state to take reasonable legislative and other measures within its available resources to progressively realise this right - is in itself a credit to our constitutional order.

South Africa is one of only approximately 29 countries in the world whose constitution explicitly enshrines the right to food and water. 

We are also one of the only countries where citizens can take legal action to ensure it is enforced. 

This therefore confers on us a particular responsibility to ensure this isn’t just an aspirational goal, but a directive to be implemented.

South Africa has adopted a multifaceted approach to tackle hunger and food security, that I will reflect on briefly.

The first is reforming policy and legal frameworks.

These include the Integrated Food Security Strategy, the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan and the Nutrition Policy Implementation Plan.

These policies have enabled us to implement a series of programmes to deliver nutrition and food directly through educational, community and institutional systems. 

The most far-reaching of these has been the National School Nutrition Programme. It has  been in existence since the birth of our democracy. 

This scheme feeds more than 9,7 million learners from indigent households across the country every single school day. 

A number of studies have shown its positive impact on learner attendance, concentration and academic performance. 

Put into perspective even further when one is quantifying longer-term impact, last year learners from quintile 1-3 schools accounted for 67 per cent of all bachelor passes. 

These learners, who now have the opportunity to go on to achieve their dreams, will have received 12 full years of nutrition support at school through this programme. 

At the same time, their caregivers having been further supported by a basket of pro-poor measures such as social grants, free basic services and free primary healthcare. 

Without a shadow of doubt, the School Nutrition Programme is one of the most transformative, pro-poor and pro-development policies to have emanated from our democratic dispensation. 

It is more than just a support system; it is a strategic effort to promote a healthier, more educated future.

Across the country we have provincially-managed programmes to support food production in the form of backyard food gardens. 

Provincial agricultural departments are providing seedlings, tools and other farming implements to enable people and organisations to feed themselves.

Thirdly, we have prioritised nutrition at a primary health level through initiatives such as breastfeeding promotion, micronutrient supplementation for pregnant women, and a National Obesity Strategy. 

Since 2003 we have also implemented a mandatory food fortification programme for staples like wheat and maize flour to combat micronutrient deficiencies and improve nutrition. 

Fourthly, we have leveraged fiscal and market-based measures to improve food affordability.

Since 1991 we have implemented zero-rating of the basic foods basket to support low-income households, and this list continues to be expanded. 

In 2018 we began implementing a health promotion levy on sweetened beverages to support efforts to decrease diabetes, obesity and other related diseases.

Competition policy has proven to be a valuable tool in support of better health outcomes - and I want to raise this particularly as one of the themes of this summit is promoting accountability.

Since 2007 the Commission has conducted a number of inquiries to enforce fairness and accountability in food markets. Examples of this include the bread and milling cartel cases, the grocery retail market inquiry and the fresh produce market inquiry. 

By identifying anti-competitive practices that inflate food prices this work is directly contributing to a fairer food system. 
Reduced retail food prices make basic and nutritious foodstuffs more affordable for low-income households. 

It is part of ensuring that the economy itself is not militating against the rights of citizens to affordable and nutritious food.

Since 2020 the Competition Commission has also been monitoring essential food pricing to identify market inefficiencies that have resulted in the burden being passed to poor households.

Finally, the state continues to leverage income and livelihood support mechanisms to enable households to access decent nutrition. 

The social grant system is a lifeline for millions of South Africans who rely on their grants to feed themselves and their families. 

The impact of social grants on supporting nutrition cannot be understated. 

There is a vast body of research from government as well as civil society organisations backing up the assertion that grants are associated with better nutrition and lower food insecurity. 

The National Income Dynamics Study/Coronavirus rapid Mobile Survey, known as the NIDS CRAM survey – found that the Social Relief of Distress or SRD grant introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the number of people below the food poverty line by 2 million in 2021. 

Studies from the Department of Social Development show that the overwhelming majority of SRD recipients spend the grant on food.

The Department of Agriculture is leading implementation of the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan (2024–2029) to coordinate national actions towards food security.

The Ilima/Letsema programmes and the Agriculture and the Agro-Processing Master Plan are also under implementation to drive food systems transformation.

In addition, the introduction of farming input vouchers under the Presidential Employment Stimulus enabled beneficiaries to receive training and vouchers to grow nutritious food crops. 

The Department of Science, Technology and Innovation is working with agricultural departments to promote growing underutilised species of crops like amaranth, African leafy vegetables, and bambara groundnuts.

Nutrient-rich varieties are being developed and traditional processing methods - such as fermentation and drying - are being refined using modern science.

Across the country, we see inspiring examples of indigenous knowledge-based enterprises and community-driven initiatives working hand in hand with scientific research institutions.

These efforts will play an invaluable role in climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Indigenous knowledge systems can and must play a key role in supporting nutrition as we deal with the impacts of droughts, fires and floods. 

We speak constantly about finding African solutions to African problems - and I hope this summit will devote attention to the issue of how indigenous knowledge systems can aid nutrition support.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The great paradox of the world today is that whilst global food production is sufficient to meet demand, millions still go hungry.

Conflict, climate change, biodiversity loss and developing country debt are further weakening global and local food systems, as are inadequate access to water, sanitation and hygiene. 

What this means is that even inasmuch as we have made progress as developing countries and as South Africa in improving the health outcomes of our people, we need to do far more. 

The Medium-Term Development Plan is clear that food security is central to reducing poverty and improving human development in general.

Its first target is to reduce the proportion of South Africans living below the food poverty line from 30.9 per cent in 2022 to 25 per cent by 2029.

Secondly, it is to reduce the number of individuals vulnerable to hunger from 5.4 million to below 2.9 million over the same period. 

To achieve these MTDP targets over the remaining period of 4 years of this administration, government has prioritised a coordinated set of strategic interventions.

These interventions include regularly reviewing the National Minimum Wage to match inflation, reviewing the indigent policies to ensure that communities have more money in their pockets to buy decent food, diversifying food security programmes, and expanding the social welfare net. 

This Summit must galvanise the effort by everyone towards ensuring that no household goes to bed hungry.

One household that suffers from the tyranny of hunger is one too many.

I am encouraged by the global solidarity in our efforts to ensure universal food security.

We recognise the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty that was established under the Brazilian G20 presidency to advocate for reform of global food governance to better reflect the needs of the Global South.

The G20 Ministerial Food Security Task Force Declaration affirms that the right to food is a fundamental human right - and that all nations share a collective responsibility to build resilient and sustainable food systems.

Its principles resonate deeply with our values as South Africa which are encapsulated in the spirit of Ubuntu, meaning “I am because you are”. 

Achieving equality, solidarity and sustainability in food systems requires partnerships.

It demands that we put evidence to work. 

It demands that we act collectively - across government, business and civil society - to ensure that freedom from hunger becomes a lived reality for every South African. 

I urge this Summit to reaffirm the conviction that social justice cannot exist in the presence of hunger.

Let it remind us that the realisation of the right to food is not only a measure of policy success, but a test of our collective conscience.

I thank you.