State needs to hurry with bill for good Samaritan laws
Covid-19 has hit us like a tidal wave. With lockdown imminent those who can are stocking up on essentials, but for the 30-million South Africans who live on less than the upper-bound poverty line of R1,183 a month this is simply not an option. For these households, state support in the form of food relief from an already cashstrapped government must be a central strategy in securing their basic needs.
Many of the families in this impoverished position must certainly be worried given the laissez-faire attitude towards their nutritional plight they have experienced until now. Before the coronavirus outbreak WWF-SA had already released a food loss report stating that 26% of households were
“experiencing hunger”, while a further 28.3% were “at risk of hunger”. With the JSE tanking, demand for primary exports in free fall, inbound tourism shut down, restaurants and bars closed and the country in lockdown, an unprecedented humanitarian response is urgently required if we are to avert a food security crisis of unparallelled proportions.
Given the pre-existing issue with hunger it will no doubt surprise the reader to learn that in this country about 10-million tonnes of edible and nutritious food go to waste every year.
This is about a third of total annual production, and more than 90% of that occurs before the food has left the store shelf. In fact, 50% of the loss takes place at the agricultural or postharvest stage, 25% during processing and packaging, and 20% at distribution and retail.
This is not a new situation either, as reliable reports detailing this situation have been in circulation since 2013, if not before. Certainly, while it is true that unfortunately some market incentives help perpetuate this pattern, there is also another very clear legislative reason for it. Section 61 of the Consumer Protection Act assigns liabilities to stakeholders such as producers, importers, distributors or retailers of products, including surplus food. It not only holds the producer or supplier liable if the product causes harm to a consumer, but also places the burden of proof on them to show that their product did not cause such harm.
For producers and suppliers wishing to ensure that their surplus food ends up in the hands of the needy, altruism is simply not enough. An attitude of organisational risk-taking must also be cultivated to navigate the legislation. One of the possible ways to reduce stakeholder fear of liability is through “good Samaritan” laws. These provide obligations to render aid if it can be accomplished without serious risk to the “good Samaritan” or third person. In SA’s case just such a law has been proposed to parliament in the form of a draft Ubuntu Surplus Food Donations Bill back in April 2017, where it has remained ever since, awaiting parliament’s attention.
The aim of the bill is to
“reduce food waste in SA by 50% by 2030 by adopting the food utilisation hierarchy, which prioritises the redistribution of edible, nutritious surplus food for human consumption, and enabling secondary markets for surplus food. Identifying food surplus and waste management solutions that respond to a circular economy and sustainable food systems agenda”. To achieve these aims a concerted and well thoughtout strategy is necessary. It is fortunate then, that since 2018 the Consumer Goods Council of SA has been consulting major stakeholders in the food sector to produce just such a strategy, with a roadshow on the final business plan held in Cape Town on March 8 and 9.
The tension we are all under as we face this crisis is palpable. For once, an accessible and thought-out solution is waiting in the wings. Now is not the moment for procrastination.
Maguire holds a masters degree in global change studies from Wits and has developed green economy solutions for the private sector, NGOs and the state for more than a decade.