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- The school nutrition programme feeds about 9.4 million learners across 20,000 schools, according to the Department of Basic Education.
- October figures put a child’s basic nutritious diet at R975.66 a month, compared with a R580 child support grant.
For millions of South African children, the December school break means a pause in the daily meal provided at school, and more food for families to find at home.
The Department of Basic Education says its National School Nutrition Programme feeds about 9.4 million learners in 20,000 primary, secondary and identified special schools. That makes school meals a major source of support for household food budgets.
Public-school pupils finish the year on 9 December and return on 13 January. The break lasts nearly five weeks, although school meals ordinarily cover school days rather than weekends and public holidays.
The latest food-affordability figures show how tight household budgets already are.
The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group’s October index puts the average monthly cost of a basic nutritious diet for a child at R975.66. It lists the child support grant at R580.
That leaves a R395.66 gap, with the grant covering about 59% of the food benchmark before clothing, toiletries and other expenses.
The figures vary by age. The monthly food benchmark is R863.33 for children aged three to nine and R937.24 for those aged 10 to 13. For teenage boys aged 14 to 18, it rises to R1,113.01.
These are costs for a full basic nutritious diet. They do not measure the extra amount a household will spend replacing school lunches, and should not be added to an existing food budget as a separate holiday bill.
But food-relief organisation SA Harvest has identified the holiday gap as a concern. In its October campaign, it warned that replacing school meals during the festive break adds pressure to already stretched budgets. Its holiday food campaign aims to provide supplementary support to families while school feeding programmes pause.
The approaching break puts a practical question before government and relief organisations: what support will reach children during the weeks when their usual school meal is unavailable?
