APA-Bhisho (South Africa) South Africa’s Eastern Cape province is witnessing rising cases of parents killing themselves and their children as the psychological effects of hunger take a toll on communities, humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers said on Wednesday.
Gift of Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman told Independent Online that the four women died in the province on August 6 “as a result of death by hunger and are not the first to do so.”
“The tragic case of the Buso family is yet another example of “no foul play”, a mother feeds Rattex to her two younger children, stabs the elder daughter in the neck and then hangs herself presumably because there wasn’t enough food to poison all four family members,” Sooliman said.
He said the incident was just a tip of the iceberg.
“Many such cases have been recorded and closed with the words “no foul play suspected.”
He said although the circumstances leading to the deaths cannot be proved, the Department of Social Development and the community are unanimous that poverty and hunger are the principal causative factors.
“Hunger is an insidious psychological, emotional and physical pain consuming parents as they lose hope and watch in anguish how their children and families waste away,” Sooliman said.
He said Gift of the Givers has intervened with hundreds of thousands of food parcels as well as soup kitchens and garden projects to assist affected communities in the province.
Results from the General Household Survey published by Statistics South Africa in April revealed that at least 21 percent of about 17,9 million households in South Africa in 2021 reported that they had inadequate-to-severe inadequate access to food.
More than 683,220 households with children aged five years or younger reported experiencing hunger in 2021.
JN/APA