Yet this long line is not to access the services the clinics provide. It is for the Tiger Brands’ sponsored food packs they distribute.

Emelda Lewis, Acting Deputy Director of Student Health Services, said: “When it's food distribution day, the queue is more than 200 at a time, sometimes even 300, but we have only 100 (food packs) per campus.”

For the hundreds of unfunded students who are turned away, there are not many alternatives to access food. And the consequences are dire. 

Quite simply, a hungry student cannot learn. A hungry student is too worried about where their next meal is coming from to focus on their studies. And studies show that a hungry student has low self-esteem, which can affect their academic performance. 

Studies on student success used to focus on learning and teaching. Now there is an increasing realisation that other human factors play a role too. 

A recent publication by the South African Council on Higher Education stated: “Food insecurity has far-reaching negative consequences on students’ success” and elaborated on how it could lead to their being “more likely to not attend classes, more likely to not participate in classes, and more likely to drop out”.

Not having enough to eat can be a shameful secret and a stigma. Nobody wants to be singled out for being poor. Food security on campus is complex dynamic but that is no reason for it to be ignored. It just needs to be addressed with sensitivity, dignity and respect and that is what we at Nelson Mandela University are aspiring to do. And that is why we need your help.

Dr Muki Moeng, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Learning and Teaching at Mandela University, said: “We want our students to succeed. The stories of students who go to bed hungry means we need to look at a holistic intervention and programme that understands who our students are”. 

Food security on South African campuses 

• Students in South African public universities have food insecurity prevalence rates of between 11% and 38.3% - Professor Stephen Devereux, National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence in Food Security, 2021; and
• Food insecurity among students in universities is higher than in South African households and student hunger is an invisible crisis that should be prioritised at the highest policy level – Devereux, 2018.

There is also a moral issue at stake: Section 27 of the Constitution of South Africa states that everyone has the right to access to sufficient food.

Mandela University’s Meal-a-Day campaign 

One of our most impactful interventions addressing student nutrition is the Meal-a-Day campaign. It provides a daily meal to students in need, especially during high-pressure times like exam periods which, said Dr Sibongile Sowazi, Director of Bursaries and Scholarships, “plays a vital role in combating student hunger and enhancing both academic performance and overall well-being”.

The intervention assists two types of students: 

• Those whom the state-funded national Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has stopped funding; and 
• NSFAS students whose food allowance runs out, a component accessed via the Meal Management System (MMS) that can prebook residence meals or allow for purchasing items at campus outlets by swiping student cards.

Vuyo Bongela, former acting Dean of Students, said: “We have been topping up the meal allowance students receive from NSFAS because it runs out during the month and students then have no food for about 12 days of the month”.

The Meal-a-Day campaign becomes active during periods of heightened need. Mostly, it provides meal support during mid-year and end-of-year exams. 

The meal on offer is lunch, available from two on-campus residences, and consists of a starch option (such as steamed bread, rice or samp), two vegetables (such as spinach and carrots) and one protein portion (such as a quarter chicken or sausage).  

Each meal costs R42. This makes it an accessible amount to sponsor one meal, or to donate multiples of that amount to assist with many meals.

Other campus food initiatives 

Many faculties and residencies at the University have projects to address student nutrition. One of these is the Ubuntu Pop-Up Coffee Bar in the foyer of the Faculty of Law on the first floor of Embizweni building on South Campus. Professor Andre Mukheibir started it as a community outreach programme in 2012. Then the community in need became the university’s own one. 

“During the #FeesMustFall protests of 2015 and 2016 we became aware of the problems faced by students with hunger. We then decided to rather focus on our own students and we arranged for a coffee bar on campus,” she said.

 It is now managed by the deputy dean of the faculty, Dr Lindi Coetzee, who said they are very sensitive about treating the students in a dignified manner. “What we provide is simple: a peanut butter and jam sandwich and a cup of coffee and tea with milk and sugar. And we don't ask you to show that you're a law student. If you are prepared to come and stand in queue in the foyer of the law faculty to get a sandwich and a cup of coffee or tea, we figure, you know what, we will give it to you. We have tables and chairs and it’s like a coffee shop. They sit around and they chat,” said Dr Coetzee.

The Ubuntu Pop-Up Coffee Bar is manned by volunteers from the Law Society and the student chapter of the Black Lawyers Association. Two staff members do the admin and ordering of provisions, which have been determined to cost about R4.50 per person. It is mostly funded by the faculty’s academics as well as some alumni who donate through the Nelson Mandela University Trust and are then eligible for a Section 18 Tax Certificate, which makes it tax deductible.

Last year Ubuntu also had a soup-in-a-jar drive to provide extra nutrition during exams. 

Besides those initiated by residences, there are more than 10 other campus nutrition projects. These include:

• The School of Architecture, Faculty of Education and Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences supply food parcels
• The Faculty of Health Sciences subsidises food items for students to collect according to their needs
• The Department of Human Movement Science Food has a cupboard + “adopt a student” project, which involves food in a cupboard and in a fridge at reception for students to collect as they need. Some staff members also “adopt a student” and leave a lunch packet in their locker and
• The Department of Agricultural Sciences grows fresh produce for students, which the North Campus clinic distributes biweekly.

What sponsorship could help provide

Dr Moeng said the line she has seen at the South Campus clinic of students queuing for food packs is “unacceptable” and they are “working towards a food bank because we want a dignified process in terms of giving students food”. The Kraal is one possible venue for such a storage facility, which could possibly operate via a token system based on students volunteering for on-campus activities.

“We have financial constraints so we can't support the students in the way that we would like to. Hence we need sponsors to assist us,” she said.

Nelson Mandela University has also established a Student Nutrition Working Group, which Dr Moeng heads, to coordinate and address student nutrition.

The Tiger Brands food parcel 

• Tastic ice 2kg
• Macaroni 500g
• Chakalaka tin 410g
• Ace Instant porridge 1kg
• Blackcat Peanut butter 400g
• Mix vegetables tin food 410g
• Morvite 1kg
• Iwisa quick cook 1kg

The following items have recently been added:

• Oats 1kg
• Benny flavoured chicken spice
• Instant porridge 1kg
• Tomato sauce 500ml
• Mayonnaise 750ml
• Soya mince 500g
• Soup mix