On the stroke of noon on Thursday, 45 Cape Flats mothers breast-fed their babies at the same time in celebration of World Breastfeeding Week.
Scores of other community members attended the event at the Liberty Promenade in Mitchell's Plain in support of breast-feeding as the best form of nutrition for babies.
"They were all standing together to show that breast-feeding is very important and is the best nutrition a baby can get," said Sandy MacPhail, the Department of Health's assistant director for nutrition.
"World Breastfeeding Week is an opportunity for basic health messages to be highlighted.
"One such message is that breast-feeding a baby exclusively for the first six months will ensure that all his or her nutritional requirements are met."
MacPhail said there was no substitute for breast-feeding and that mothers were being encouraged to give their babies nothing but breast-milk.
MacPhail added that babies should not even be given water to drink, unless it was medically indicated.
"Breast-milk has so many benefits. It is nutritionally perfect for the baby and is designed to adjust as the child grows. It helps the baby fight infections," she said.
In 1981 the World Health Assembly adopted the International Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitute to regulate some of the harmful marketing practices used to promote the substitutes.
"They include not advertising breast-milk substitutes, no picture promotion in healthcare facilities and that information on artificial feeding must explain the superior benefits of breastfeeding," MacPhail said.