This study discusses access to information and communication technology in the context of food security in Soshanguve, a slum area of The City of Tshwane, the administrative Capital of South Africa. City dwellers access food from retail outlets in a country where dispatching food is a lucrative business. Hence, food price increases pose challenges to urban households. South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), other television stations and radio stations broadcast food marketing information through eleven official languages. Digital food marketing through cellular phone networks is on the rise.ICT is hence a potential tool in the fight against food insecurity and hunger, since its use and range of application continue to grow at astonishing rates. ICT tools to enhance food security are highlighted in UNICEF's use of RapidSMS technology in Ethiopia and Malawi in their food distribution programmes supplying high-protein food to undernourished children ownership, among others.Using questions contained in the USAID developed Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), questionnaires were administered to 300 randomly selected households in Soshanguve. Respondents were asked of their experiences of food insecurity (access) with a recall period of four weeks (30 days).About half of households in Soshanguve are food secure, just over 12% are mildly food insecure, about the same proportion are moderately food insecure, while more than a quarter of surveyed households are severely food insecure. Most households in Soshanguve have access to the use of ICT devices, primarily in the form of cellular phone devices. Food secure households can utilise ICT tools in any manner to meet their food security needs. Our study shows that ICT access is positively associated with household food security. Transactional purchases of items on credit using cellular or landline telephony are, in particular, important in enhancing food security.

This study examined possible impact of social support on food insecurity in South Africa’s Soshanguve township. Binomial logit models, combine statistical and maximum likelihood features to estimate odds of household food insecurity in Soshanguve, adjusted separately for gender and employment of household head. Predictably, economic factors are weakly associated with increased risk of general food insecurity at lower household incomes, with large families, the unemployed, and those with lower education. Social support, in the form of access to child and/or pension grant or special relief of COVID distress, has no significant impact on food insecurity, neither is receiving in-kind help. The study is interdisciplinary and contributes to the understanding of the link between COVID-19 pandemic, and the attainment of United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) through urban metabolic flows, and the relationships between physical, social and economic factors in the urban environment.

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Remittances have become an increasingly important factor in developing economies. Among others, compliance with onerous regulation requirements discourages the use of formal methods of remittances. The paper discusses results from a survey of the influence of regulation on the choice of migrants’ remittance channels in South Africa. It aims to highlight how regulation affects the choice between formal and informal channels of remitting funds. A questionnaire was administered to collect primary data from migrants seeking documentations from the Department of Home Affairs, those remitting funds at taxi ranks or bus terminals, and those remitting through commercial banks and money transfer operators. 275 responses were analysed using a Likert rating scale format of 1 (highest) to 5 (lowest). Regulatory requirements of documentary evidence are an important factor influencing the choice of the remittance channel used. Documentation requirement in the formal market causes migrants to be ineligible for the formal channels of remittances and is a factor that influences the choice of remittance channel. Restrictive visa requirements could easily push migrants to become illegal aliens which further deny them access to formal remittance channels. The paper adds to the academic literature on the determinants of remittance channels in Africa. Understanding the relevant issues could assist regulatory authorities to restructure the remittance market with a view to encouraging migrant workers to enter the formal financial system.