Strengthening community ties in South Africa: tackling food insecurity and structural challenges through community-led initiatives

• Structural violence and exclusionary policies exacerbate socio-economic inequalities. • Community-based action mitigates food insecurity and resource scarcity in South Africa. • Case studies from Gauteng and Eastern Cape provinces highlight grassroots survival strategies. • Social networks play a key role in addressing immediate needs in deprived communities. • Informal support mechanisms shape survival in marginalized communities. In this article, we examine how precarious access to food and other essential resources, shaped by structural violence, poverty, and inequalities, is mitigated through community ties and community-based action. Communities in South Africa face chronic socioeconomic challenges, including high unemployment and inadequate access to resources such as food, water, energy, and shelter. We highlight how governmental neglect and exclusionary policies exacerbate these hardships, creating entrenched cycles of deprivation. Drawing on ethnographic research, including two case studies from Lorentzville (Gauteng province) and Mqanduli (Eastern Cape province), we explore community-based initiatives that demonstrate how residents leverage social networks to share resources, address immediate needs, and sustain livelihoods. Our findings show that while these grassroots efforts provide critical support, they remain constrained by broader structural conditions that perpetuate food insecurity and economic marginalization. Ethnographic evidence illustrates how the spatial and social organization of these communities influences the effectiveness of informal support mechanisms. This article contributes to scholarship on well-being and space by illustrating how localized strategies of resource-sharing shape survival within contexts of chronic deprivation.