AUTOFORUM

MISA comment - Government’s treatment of children is cruel

Oct 17, 2025 MISA, Motor Industry Staff Association, Martle Keyter,

MISA comment - Government’s treatment of children is cruel

MISA, the Motor Industry Staff Association, believes the Gauteng Department of Education is inhumane and reckless to leave thousands of learners without food due to its incompetence.

Martlé Keyter, MISA’s Chief Executive Officer: Operations, says the Department is aware that most of the affected learners only survive on the meal provided to them as part of the feeding scheme. “It is a shame that Gauteng Education MEC, Matome Chiloane, admits in a statement that his department’s financial challenges to meet outstanding payments to service providers are the root of the problem.”

“There should be severe consequences for anyone who fails to care for children. The rights of children are paramount in our Constitution,” says Keyter. This comes after 73 children under the age of 5 lost their lives due to malnutrition in the Eastern Cape this year.

Nationwide, non-profit organisations are struggling to make ends meet due to the lack of funding from Government amidst an increasing need to provide food to vulnerable groups. Especially children, the elderly and the disabled.

Earlier this year MISA announced the Union’s Fight Child Hunger Challenge, asking all our members, staff, tenants and stakeholders to start collecting the following items:

• Tinned food (pilchards for example);

• Peanut butter;

• Fortified Maize;

• White Rice;

• Soya Mince;

• Speckled beans;

• Soup Mix.

These items are considered “best buys” for households because they are high in protein and micronutrients and have a long shelf life. A 2024 Unicef report found that 23% of South African children experience severe food poverty, eating less than two of the recommended five food groups per day. Unemployment, food insecurity, limited access to basic services and a lack of knowledge about nutrition all contribute to this.

Keyter says according to research 29% of children in South Africa under the age of five are stunted, preventing proper development because of malnutrition, while 15% are hungry. The gap between hunger and stunting arises because children are getting non-nutritious foods that only curbs their hunger.

Keyter appeals to everyone to accept the Union’s Challenge by buying some of the items and contacting Sonja Carstens, Manager of MISA's Media & Communication Department, to facilitate with the nearest collection point. The Union already donated food to nine non-profit organisations which includes school feeding schemes.

For more information contact Carstens on mailto:Sonja.Carstens@ms.org.za or 082 463 6806.

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