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Civil society organisations are calling for urgent intervention in the KwaZulu-Natal school nutrition programme.
- Equal Education and the Equal Education Law Centre have called for urgent intervention to restore access to the National School Nutrition Programme in KwaZulu-Natal.
- The programme has failed to provide meals to some schools in the province, leaving many pupils hungry.
- Equal Education and the Equal Education Law Centre say it is a gross violation of the pupils' constitutional right to nutrition.
Lobby group Equal Education (EE) and the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) have called for urgent intervention in the KwaZulu-Natal school nutrition programme and have urged the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to move quickly with its probe into the programme.
Shedding light on the debacle, a Grade 12 Ubongumenzi Secondary School pupil, who is an Equal Education member in KZN, said she found it hard to focus on school work while the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) in the province was not delivering.
"It is very difficult to focus in class when you are hungry as we are used to getting food at school. Many learners leave school before time because of starvation and some do not come to school at all," the pupil said.
In a joint statement, EE and the EELC emphasised that the NSNP fed more than nine million pupils countrywide every school day.
They described the initiative as a pro-poor initiative and something that is "crucial to the well-being of vulnerable learners".
Since the start of the second term, some schools in KZN have not been receiving the meals they are entitled to through the NSNP.
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Earlier this week, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said reports her department had received indicated that about 90% of pupils received meals on Tuesday.
This was after weeks of mishaps and confusion after a new central service provider, Pacina Retail, which won the majority of the contract, failed to deliver meals to a number of schools.
The department has since reverted to its original group of around 1 700 SMMEs to deliver food to schools.
Equal Education said in a statement:
The failure of the NSNP service provider, appointed by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education, to adequately supply the necessary meals has meant that over two million learners in the province have been left to go hungry while at school.
Spokesperson Jay-Dee Cyster described the bungle as a "gross violation of the learners' constitutional right to nutrition".
Cyster said that while the KZN education department took interim action "the basic education department must move quickly with its investigation to guarantee that this never occurs again".
"EE and EELC will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that the NSNP is fully restored."
DA MP Baxolile "Bax" Nodada called for "accountability and consequences for those responsible".
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Nodada stated that despite the chaos and suffering caused by centralising the NSNP, it seemed those responsible for the catastrophe would manage to dodge accountability.
Nodada also criticised Motshekga for offering empty platitudes and promises.
"No amount of oversight will bring about change if the political will to implement and monitor changes is lacking."
Director-general of the basic education department, Mathanzima Mweli, told the media on Tuesday that lawyers would scrutinise contracts relating to the programme in the coming months.
"These contractual arrangements are being dealt with by competent persons, including senior counsel."
Asked about the statement Pacina Retail issued last week, Mweli said even that was subject to lawyers' advice.
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