The ANC has instructed its KwaZulu-Natal government to take swift action against officials involved in the failed school nutrition tender that left millions of poor children starving for days.
The governing ANC’s posture comes after the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) descended on KZN this past weekend as part of its national tour to provinces to assess performance in its regions.
After the visit, the ANC branded the feeding scheme saga a “serious concern” which called for tough action against those involved.
The province was in the news for all the wrong reasons after its department of education apparently decided to give a feeding scheme tender to one company to supply food to all schools across the province.
The contract had previously been broken down to many service providers based on locations and proximity to schools that benefit from the feeding scheme.
Awarding it to a single company created a logistical nightmare that saw some food supplies not reaching schools with poor children who depend on the scheme for their daily meals going to bed hungry. The ANC believes this was gross incompetence and urged the ANC-led government in KZN to act decisively.
“The saga of the school feeding scheme is a matter of serious concern. The NWC has taken an unequivocal position, whilst there may be an explanation as to how the problem came about, consequences must be effected without delay,” said ANC National Spokesperson Mahlengi Bhhengu-Motsiri.
“We expect the ANC – led administration to have a very low threshold for incompetence. This programme affects millions of children from working-class communities and as such we expect the relevant officials to be meticulous in their planning processes.”
The NWC also highlighted “challenges” in the political leadership of the party in the province and service delivery shortcomings.
This newspaper has previously reported plans by Luthuli House to disband the ANC KZN provincial executive committee.
The NWC said: “The province is confronted by numerous challenges which have been presented in different reports by NWC deployees, but these challenges are not insurmountable.”
But the problems facing KZN are so many, said the NWC, that Luthuli House will have to revisit the province again in the near future.
Besides the feedings scheme disaster, the NWC noted the water provision to be among leading service delivery challenges facing most of KZN.
The NWC also expressed concern over “the slow pace at which municipalities are able address audit findings.
“Where there is political instability and poor service delivery patterns in ANC led municipalities this must be resolved by the provincial leadership urgently by all means necessary.”
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