Challenges with the National Schools Nutrition Programme in KwaZulu-Natal has disrupted teaching and learning at over 5 000 schools.
Learners in the affected schools have gone without food since schools re-opened last week.
It is believed that the challenges that include the late or non-delivery of food and in some instances, rotten food began after the provincial education department introduced a new supplier and system to deliver raw ingredients to schools.
In the past, several suppliers based within districts would deliver food directly to schools.
One of the suppliers Mduduzi Nzama, explains the state of the fresh produce he has seen waiting to be delivered to schools.
“As schools opened last week on Wednesday, we didn’t have food for the children to be deliver in schools this food won’t be enough against children in the Ugu District. We would like to get a decent collection point, where we can collect decent food for our children, so some of us did see that the cabbages, butternut are here but there are no tomatoes. Those cabbages are the thrown on the concrete on a dirty place then those cabbages, we are supposed to take them and deliver them to our schools for our children to eat these foods.”
Meanwhile, the provincial secretary of the National Association of School Governing Bodies, Bongumusa Mnguni is calling for the main service provider to work with regional wholesalers and local farmers to ensure the timeous delivery of produce.
In a statement, the provincial education department has confirmed that food supplies have now been delivered to at least 90 percent of the affected schools.
“The service provider, the one that is appointed by the department, needs to go in all various and identify the wholesalers that have a capacity to deliver or to supply within that district. But that service provider to also deliver the food to the circuit so that the service providers will be able to receive the food on time because if they are going to take it from the central venue and then it will end up at some other schools, they might receive food after 10 hours.”
