Rising food costs raise concerns for hungry families

Labour federation Cosatu has warned of widespread hunger among poor families and the unemployed who can no longer cope with the soaring food prices.

"The increases are bound to lead to poor families going hungry as they lack the means to put food on the table because of the high prices" Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven said.

Last Wednesday Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said the 80% increase in the price of bread over the last 12 months was worrying, adding that a public discussion on the matter was urgently needed.

The already grave situation could be worsened by mass retrenchments linked to the interest rate hikes and characterised by the inability of the economy to create new jobs and risks to existing jobs.

"Employers would try to offset the cost of servicing their loans by retrenching workers and cutting their wages," the labour federation said.

Elsewhere, discontent over food prices has led to riots, demands for higher wages and calls for governments to resign, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said this week.

The food watchdog has also warned of the possibility of serious social unrest and food shortages in countries like South Africa and other third world nations should the situation remain unchanged.

Cosatu said the situation was certain to create a demand for higher wages which could force unions to embark on countrywide strikes again this year.

President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Senzeni Zokwana said "the union would ensure this year's wage demands fully compensate workers for the drop in their real standards of living over the past year", adding that "the skyrocketing prices spell disaster for millions of the poorest South Africans".

Another Cosatu union, the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu), has observed "none of the increases in food prices find their way into the pockets of the farm and food-processing workers, who remain the worst paid and most exploited of the working class."

Indigent households would be compelled to dig even deeper into their pockets as food prices soar after one of the country's major bakery, Tiger Brands, raised the price of bread by 40 cents a loaf.

In some places people have to buy bread at R6,75.

Two other large bakeries, Pioneer Foods and Premier, were expected to raise the price of its Sasko and Blue Ribbon bread soon.

The situation is exacerbated by government's no longer regulating the price of food.

SACP spokesman Malesela Maleka said it was outrageous the government said and did nothing about depriving people of their staple food, bread, while the white capitalist class and a tiny black majority continued to enrich themselves.

SACP has urged the government to urgently step in and stop the price increase.

Meanwhile, South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) general secretary Roger Ronnie said government's macro-economic policy, the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (Gear), had resulted in the dramatic decline in living standards of the poor, which were worse than those that prevailed during the apartheid era.

Food prices were not expected to drop significantly this year, said Andre Jooste, an economist in the Agricultural Marketing Council.

Source: Labour Correspondent, The Herald, 21 January 2008