PHUTI MOSOMANE
DUE to tender irregularities, most of the 5,400 schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), which are beneficiaries of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), were without food this week, causing hundreds of thousands of learners to go hungry upon returning from their Easter Holidays.
The Department of Education in KZN awarded a single individual a multi-million rand tender to supply food to schools across the province.
The scandal has put the department’s planning under the spotlight, and the MEC of education, Mbali Frazer, has promised to address the issues as soon as possible.
However, the details about who was awarded the tender remain undisclosed.
There are concerns that tenders are often awarded through corruption and irregularities, and the ActionSA KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Chairperson, Zwakele Mncwango, has called for transparency on how the tender was awarded.
The restoration of the NSNP is expected to take place by the close of business on Tuesday, but there are allegations of political interference delaying the service.
“While the Department of Education and its MEC, Ms Mbali Frazer, have been tight lipped regarding the matter and whom was awarded the Tender, it is a concern that the Department saw it fit to divert from a system that has been working without hiccups for a number of years, and introduce one that has unfortunately collapsed before it could take off,” said Mcwango.
“Should the matter not be resolved by the end of this month, we will immediately take action steps and write to the Public Protector and request a full investigation into the matter and reveal what led to the Department of Education to come to the decision to strip other suppliers of their duties and award it to a single individual, and uncover how many people applies for the Tender, what were its specifications and did the individuals met t required specifications.”
There are allegations of “possible political interference delaying the service,” according to the DA KZN spokesperson on Education, Dr Imran Keeka.
“MEC Frazer has also cited illegal business fora for fuelling tensions and delaying deliveries. This, on top of what she confirmed, was a logistics problem involving the new bulk supplier of food for learners as part of the NSNP,” said Keeka.
INSIDE EDUCATION
