The Consumer Commission’s Cost of Living Report, released in August 2025, shows that rising inflation, especially for essential goods and services such as food, fuel, and electricity, is placing unprecedented pressure on households. The report highlights that 'These price surges have significantly reduced purchasing power, increased the risk of food insecurity and forced families, especially those in lower-income brackets.'
A recent Household Affordability Index report published by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PMBEJD) revealed that the average South African worker spends over 57% of their monthly earnings on transport and electricity, a figure that leaves little room for food and other essential expenses.
An article published by the Daily Maverick on 11 September 2025 calls for urgent accountability and reports that nearly 1,000 children have died of severe malnutrition in the past 18 months, which is also considered an underestimation. Ironically, South Africa is considered a food-secure country, since we produce more than enough food to feed all our citizens.
In South Africa, food waste and food insecurity have disastrous effects on people’s health, the environment, and the economy. These challenges can be addressed through food recovery programs. However, the overhanging threat of liability has prevented many potential food donors from participating in these programmes.
One of the barriers preventing the safe and timely redistribution of surplus food is the issue of liability. Many food manufacturers, retailers, and restaurants are reluctant to donate edible surplus food due to fear of legal repercussions if recipients fall ill. Even when food is perfectly safe, the perceived legal risk often outweighs the desire to donate. This means that nutritious food is unnecessarily wasted instead of nourishing children who are at risk of starvation.
In addition, South Africa has not adopted a national law, such as a food donation requirement and/or organic waste ban, designed to encourage food donation and penalise those supply chain actors that waste edible surplus food.
Relaxed liability laws can change this reality. By offering legal protection to good-faith food donors who meet safety standards, governments can remove one of the biggest obstacles to large-scale food donations. Such protection would reassure donors that, as long as food is safe to eat and handled responsibly at the time of making the donation, they will not face lawsuits. This simple legal shift has the power to unlock millions of meals for children who desperately need them.
Countries like the United States and Canada have already implemented 'Good Samaritan' food donation laws, which protect donors from unnecessary liability. These policies have resulted in increased food recovery, expanded donations, and improved community food security. However, in nations without such legislation, like South Africa, large volumes of safe food continue to be wasted. By following proven global examples, our government can save lives while reducing waste.
The urgency of this issue cannot be overstated. Malnutrition in childhood leads to stunting, weakened immune systems, poor cognitive development, and higher mortality rates. Children who survive severe hunger often suffer lifelong physical and mental disadvantages. By failing to implement solutions like liability reform, society is not only allowing children to die but also condemning survivors to futures of struggle and lost potential.
Relaxing liability does not mean abandoning food safety. It means balancing responsibility with compassion. Donors would still need to meet established health and safety standards. Food banks like FoodForward SA already follow strict protocols for storage, transportation, and distribution. Liability reform simply removes the fear of being punished for doing the right thing, provided donors act in good faith.
This approach also creates stronger partnerships between supply chain actors and food redistribution organisations. Farmers, manufacturers, and retailers can donate surplus food without hesitation, knowing they are legally protected. Organisations like FoodForward SA can scale up their operations, knowing that there is a steady supply of nutritious food that can serve more children and families. Together, this collaboration builds a stronger safety net against food insecurity.
The environmental impact is another important consideration. Food waste contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. By enabling more surplus food to be redirected to children and families, relaxed liability policies not only reduce hunger but also lessen the environmental footprint of wasted food. In this way, the solution addresses both human and planetary health.
Following FoodForward SA’s advocacy that secured a landmark Food Donation Standard for South Africa, our focus will now shift towards fighting for a Food Donations Policy for South Africa.
FoodForward SA, in partnership with Harvard’s Food Law and Policy Clinic, WWF, the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa, and other like-minded organisations, is working on a draft Good Samaritan Law for South Africa. The draft proposes a legislative framework with two main aspects.
First, it aims to encourage donations of edible surplus food by limiting the liability of food donors and intermediary organisations, as long as food products meet all quality and labelling standards imposed by South African laws and regulations, even though the food may not be readily marketable due to appearance, age, freshness, size, surplus, or other conditions. Specifically, the framework limits the civil and criminal liability of good-faith food donors and intermediary organisations.
Second, it aims to curb food waste through the enactment of food waste deterrence laws, such as a national organic waste ban and/or food donation requirement. An organic waste ban is a law or policy that prohibits specified entities from sending all or an amount over a certain threshold of organic waste (e.g. food waste) to landfills. A food donation requirement is a law or policy that requires specified entities (e.g. commercial farmers, manufacturers, retailers) to donate some or all of their surplus food that is safe for human consumption. The proposed legislation will bring South Africa in line with international legislative trends, particularly those of other countries leading the fight against food waste, such as France, Brazil, and Italy.
It is unconscionable for children to be dying from hunger in a world of abundance. Relaxed liability is a practical, proven policy solution that can save countless lives, especially the lives of children who are the most vulnerable. By creating an enabling legal framework, we can ensure that no edible food goes to waste and no child suffers the indignity of hunger.
The cost of inaction is far greater when weighed against the minimal risk of liability. When legal barriers prevent life-saving donations, it is our children who pay the ultimate price. Relaxing liability transforms fear into generosity and hesitation into hope.
