School principals in KwaZulu-Natal have raised concerns over running out of food this week if National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) suppliers make good on their promise to stop the service if they are not paid.
At least 60% of the suppliers have not been paid by the Department of Education for three months and have threatened to stop their service, saying they are running into financial difficulties.
KZN spokesperson for the suppliers, Thabang Mncwabe, said the providers are in severe financial difficulties and the ongoing delay in payments has become a significant challenge, with some providers facing losing their properties due to overwhelming debt.
During the tabling of his departmental budget earlier this month, KZN Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka announced that the approved budget allocation for the school nutrition programme was insufficient. The programme currently provides meals to more than 2.4 million children in 5 405 schools in KZN.
The programme has been linked to significant improvements in school attendance and academic performance, particularly among learners in rural areas. For many learners, the meal is their only full, nutritious meal they receive daily.
A principal of a school in Newcastle said the service provider did not deliver food on Monday. “The supplier said they are most likely to be paid on Tuesday (today), they will then deliver the food once they get paid.”
“We are a school in a very rural area with most children depending greatly on the school meals. If this goes on for longer, we will have to tell the parents to pack food for their children and that will be very difficult.”
In Ugu District, about 22 companies did not supply food to schools on Monday due to delayed payments. One of the service providers, who supplies food to 11 schools, said all these schools were without food.
“We provide the non-perishable food like rice, maize meal and beans every month and the perishable food every Monday, and they will run out.”
The DA on Monday urged Hlomuka to secure national Treasury funding to prevent a repeat of last year’s collapse of the service. The party’s KZN spokesperson on Education Sakhile Mngadi said the cancellation of services will significantly impact the learners’ ability to learn.
“A 2022 UCT study by children count showed that KZN is home to 31% of SA’s children that experience hunger, a total figure of almost 1 million. KZN’s NSNP is an essential component in the fight against hunger and stunting of growth among our children,” said Mngadi. The DA said they will call for an urgent education portfolio committee meeting to discuss a solution and the KZN unity government must act immediately to address this crisis.
The Mercury