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KZN school feeding scheme suppliers to sue education department over payment delays

KZN school feeding scheme suppliers to sue education department over payment delays
Naledi Sikhakhane
By Naledi Sikhakhane
29 Aug 2024
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The KZN Department of Education has finally paid most of the school feeding scheme service providers, but they’re still going to court to find a resolution to an ongoing crisis that threatens to leave learners hungry.

Towards the end of last year, national school feeding scheme suppliers sounded the alarm about delayed payments, budget cuts and other issues stemming from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education.

In June this year, suppliers protested outside the department’s offices in Pietermaritzburg, alleging they had not been paid for months. Last week, suppliers said they would be unable to supply food to about 6,000 schools because of nonpayment.

This week, Thabang Mncwabe, National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) Service Providers Association communications consultant, said 90% of the suppliers were paid on Tuesday, 27 August, and the rest were told they would be paid on Friday.

However, Mncwabe said the association would proceed with a court case against the KZN Department of Education because it wanted to ensure that suppliers would not face further payment delays.

He said the association of 300 suppliers had not been in direct communication with the department for a long time.

“We communicate via media. The last time we had a sit-down was in May. I don’t know if this has to do with the new government or what, but before we would have sit-downs when there were issues to engage,” said Mncwabe.

‘An array of issues’


The NSNP provides daily meals to more than nine million learners at public schools across South Africa. More than 2.4 million learners in KZN benefit from the programme. 

Over the years, there have been serious problems with the NSNP. In 2023, there were problems with its implementation in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal that disrupted the delivery of meals to thousands of learners.

Read more: KZN schools send hungry pupils home as National School Nutrition Programme fails to deliver

The Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) was approached in July by the NSNP Service Providers Association in KwaZulu-Natal over problems encountered by its members. 

Chandre Stuurman, a senior attorney at the EELC, said these problems included “an array of issues such as the delayed payments to NSNP service providers, the significant increase in food prices from distributors and wholesalers which increases suppliers’ operational costs, and suppliers having to supply food items not specified in contractual agreements.

“The association has been unsuccessful in its attempts to engage the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education (KZNDOE) and has since, with the help of the EELC, contacted the [National] Department of Basic Education (DBE) for intervention.

“The EELC is deeply concerned about a possible repeat of the NSNP disaster that struck KwaZulu-Natal last year. It is important for the DBE and KZNDOE, alongside the association, to find an urgent resolution to prevent learners from bearing the brunt of this failure again,” said Stuurman.

Read more: How a working democracy can ensure state accountability in school feeding programme failures

Motheo Brodie, a candidate attorney at public interest law centre SECTION27, said they were concerned about the impact of delayed payments on learners’ education.

“As our courts have confirmed, the NSNP is a crucial programme in realising learners’ constitutional rights to basic nutrition and to basic education. We are concerned about the reported delayed payments to suppliers as the impact on learners’ education, especially the most vulnerable, is far-reaching,” said Brodie.

“Without the provision of NSNP meals to learners, the risk of malnutrition and consequently poorer educational outcomes as well as dropouts is heightened.

“Despite any budget constraints, it is crucial that the NSNP is allocated a sufficient budget (considering food inflation, which is significantly above CPI inflation) and that any administrative issues are urgently and effectively resolved so that the quality of spend for this programme is not compromised.”

‘You can’t teach a hungry child’


After some schools in the province did not receive their food supplies on Monday, the National Association of School Governing Bodies appealed to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education to ensure the school nutrition programme was not interrupted again.

Bongumusa Mnguni, the secretary-general of the association, said: “Most of the schools that are benefiting from the nutrition programme were affected … due to lack of payment to suppliers. They were supposed to deliver maas as well as vegetables.

“Affected districts [included] Umlazi, Umgungundlovu, iLembe, Uthukela and Amajuba.” 

Daily Maverick contacted the KZN Education Department and MEC Sipho Hlamuka’s communication team for comment, but did not receive a response. It will be added once received.

The general secretary of the teachers’ union Sadtu, Nomarashiya Caluza, told SABC News that they had implored the department and suppliers to use dispute resolution mechanisms to ensure there were no interruptions in the supply of food to schools.

“We know you cannot teach a hungry child,” said Caluza. DM

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