Rapidly escalating food prices is akin to a pandemic as never seen before in this country. Starvation and malnutrition have set in, as basic foods become unattainable for millions of people.

Manufacturers and farmers are increasing their prices to claw back the profits they lost during the pandemic ... translating to self-inflicted inflation  and ultimate pain for the poorest of the poor, let alone the emerging middle class.

This calamity must be arrested, requiring a call from President Cyril Ramaphosa himself to every single food producer to cease and desist from increasing prices for at least one year.

SA can’t at this time be classified as a free-market economy. It’s a unique situation requiring a bold initiative by all concerned to save people from the scourge of hunger and the misery that millions endure every day.

The sage economists, the profit-driven corporations and the glutinous institutions must understand that they need to rethink their roles in this life, as “profit” had become their god.

The planet has changed, and Covid-19 came along to allow all of us to do some serious soul searching, and hopefully teach us the lessons of humility.

Peter Bachtis, Lakefield, Benoni