At a press conference, held in Luanda, organization officials read a note of protest addressed to the President, João Lourenço.
At issue is the statement by the head of State, last week, who spoke as leader of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), a party in power since 1975, relativizing hunger in the country.
"Hunger is always relative", said João Lourenço, stressing that the country already has a lot of food production and criticizing opponents who, "from morning to night they only sing one song: hunger, hunger, hunger", during a rally held at the closing of the VIII ordinary congress of the party, in which he was re-elected president of the MPLA.
Plataforma Sul considers João Lourenço's statements an "unfortunate position by the head of State of the Republic of Angola, as president of the MPLA party", and that results from the party's "lack of commitment" "in tackling the causes of hunger and malnutrition throughout the country, especially in southern Angola".
According to the organization, this declaration "sends to death the millions of Angolans who, without protection, are already on the brink of death and have no food", says the protest note, stressing that the words uttered by the President "are a direct insult to all the families who have lost their loved ones to hunger."
According to Plataforma Sul, if the State had considered the warnings made by civil society, taking a stand and providing "the necessary help, with the support of the international community, most people would not have perished."
"Your Excellency is aware that more than ten thousand Angolans have taken refuge in the Republic of Namibia and are at the mercy of the help of this Government, fleeing their areas of origin because of hunger. It does not cause you a feeling of shame when the citizens of the country of which President, they have to flee to be welcomed and better treated in the neighboring country", they question.
According to the Angolan non-governmental organization, the cities of Lubango, Huíla province, Huambo, Benguela and Luanda "are full of hungry beggars", some of them children under the age of 10, "all because the government is even unable to to create food banks to help nourish children who are said to be Angola's future."
Sustainable solutions to "such a serious problem", civil society organizations say they do not see it, questioning whether the head of state is aware that tens of thousands of children have dropped out of school "because school programs do not provide school lunches".
"Everyone knows, except Your Excellency, that southern Angola is affected by climate change. But Your Excellency knows, and very well, that since 2012 Angolan civil society, especially civil society organizations and agencies international, have been warning about the agro-meteorological changes that would result in a generalized famine in the south of Angola and beyond", he stressed.
Southern Platform criticizes the President's resistance to declaring a State of Emergency, depriving millions of people in the provinces of Namibe, Huíla, Cunene and Cuando Cubango of receiving the immediate help they need to survive.
The organization recalls that several meetings were held to alert authorities of the situation, which is why the President "is very well informed about the very high levels of malnutrition linked to hunger, not only in southern Angola, but practically at a national level".
"For this reason, Angolan civil society will henceforth hold him responsible for all deaths from hunger and for all children with severe and chronic malnutrition, as Angola's problem is not lack of money or resources, but rather the denial of these to those who most need them", emphasizes the protest note, in which they manifest openness to dialogue and participate in the identification of complex solutions to the problem of hunger and malnutrition in Angola.
"But if Your Excellency does not take a firm and State position, civil society will accuse you of crimes against humanity, in its attitude of denying the right to food. We inform you, Mr. President of the Republic, if necessary, we are going to turn over the whole earth, activating all the international mechanisms at our disposal, so that the victims of hunger and malnutrition are attended to and respected", warns Plataforma Sul.
In July of this year, the representative of the World Food Program (WFP) in Angola, Michele Mussoni, who heads the office of that United Nations agency, said that the drought has not only hit the southern provinces, such as Namibe, Huíla and Cunene, but also Huambo, Benguela and Cuanza Sul.
The United Nations organization also informed that millions of people are being affected by the drought in Angola - the worst in 40 years - which has already forced the displacement of almost a thousand people, with malnutrition being equally worrying.
