Alarmingly, the numbers have almost doubled since 2023, when 14 children under the age of five starved to death in Nelson Mandela Bay.

Twenty-five children under the age of five died of severe acute malnutrition in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro in the past 12 months, and hundreds more had to be treated for less severe conditions triggered by starvation.

Statistics released by the Eastern Cape Department of Health reveal that in the past 12 months, 237 children under five were diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition and 501 with moderately severe and acute malnutrition, with more than 100 children being diagnosed in March alone.

Alarmingly, the numbers have almost doubled since 2023, when 14 children under the age of five starved to death in Nelson Mandela Bay and another 216 new cases of severe acute malnutrition were confirmed over 18 months between 2022 and 2023.

Nelson Mandela Bay is widely regarded as the most prosperous metro in the province. Despite being the largest metro in the province, it has been allocated only R855,283 for its Social Relief of Distress programme by the provincial Department of Social Development. Between August 2024 and March 2025, only 241 food parcels were distributed by...