KwaZulu-Natal schools face food delivery problems due to non-payment of service providers
Service providers in the National School Nutrition Programme have warned that some KwaZulu-Natal schools will be without food for schools meals this week due to some service providers not being paid.
Image: Pixabay
Service providers contracted to feed KwaZulu-Natal schoolchildren have warned that some schools will not receive food deliveries on Monday, 2 June, due to non-payment of invoices by the provincial Department of Education.
The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) Service Providers Association says many of its members have not been paid for April and earlier invoices despite submitting all necessary documentation, and the department has offered no formal communication or explanation for the delay. The issue of payments, either not being made or being late, have been a challenge since the start of the school year.
Last month, the payment issues was also raised by the services providers.
The KZN education department admitted that there had been some service providers who were not paid and said this was due to system errors.
NSNP association spokesperson Thabang Mncwabe said the non-payment of some service providers "places over a million learners across the province at risk of going without food on Monday”.
“It not only undermines the constitutional rights of learners especially under Section 29(1)(a) of the Constitution, but also sets a disheartening tone for Youth Month.”
The association said the department is in breach of Section 38(1)(f) of the Public Finance Management Act, which requires valid invoices to be paid within 30 days.
“We cannot allow financial mismanagement, poor planning, and a continued disregard for legal obligations to compromise the dignity, health, and education of South Africa’s children,” Mncwabe said.
It called on the national Minister of Basic Education to urgently intervene and hold the provincial department accountable, while also demanding the immediate implementation of the Pretoria High Court ruling which the association affirms the rights of service providers to be paid on time.
In response, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education admitted that some NSNP service providers were excluded from the most recent payment run, attributing it to technical problems related to the implementation of a new financial management system.
“The Department is affected following the implementation of the new Standard Charts of Accounts (SCOA V6), which includes a complete refreshing of the BAS technical environment,” it said.
“Whilst the Department captured all submitted invoices for the month of April and other previous months, a number of service providers were randomly omitted in the process,” it added.
According to the department, the Provincial Treasury is investigating the cause of the omissions, and a special payment run has been scheduled for Tuesday, 3 June. Payments are expected to reflect by Friday, 6 June.
MEC for Education Sipho Hlomuka appealed for understanding and urged schools to continue feeding learners where possible.
“We have requested that principals of schools whose service providers have been affected by this impasse humbly engage service providers to deliver food items to schools and also ensure that learners do not go hungry,” said Hlomuka. “We call for patience and cooperation during this period of transition and frustration.”