The Congress of South African Student Congress (Cosas) in KwaZulu-Natal has vowed to take the war to the provincial department of education should it fail to resolve the national school nutrition programme crisis.
The government-funded food scheme, which feeds over 9-million pupils countrywide of which the majority of them come from poor households, has been thrown into disarray in various schools in the province with schools resorting to sending pupils home early.
Tender irregularities and corruption is said to be at the centre of furore which has left over 5 400 pupils without much-needed food for relief.
On Tuesday, Cosas spokesperson Cebolenkosi Khumalo lamented that some teachers have resorted to assist with their own money to feed the hungry pupils.
“Even in some schools where the food items had been delivered, it’s not sufficient to feed all the learners. Some pupils are being fed soup and rice only.
“Other teachers are volunteering using their own money to cover the shortfall,” explained Khumalo, pointing out that if the problem persists, the student formation will stage a protest in all education districts in KwaZulu-Natal.
In a statement released by the department on Monday, it said the service provider had experienced logistical challenges which led to the non-delivery of the food supplies.
“The MEC for education, Ms Mbali Frazer, directed the HOD [head of department] and the top management of the department to swiftly investigate the root cause and the possible solution,” said the department.
“During the investigation, it transpired that there were logistical challenges encountered by the appointed service provider.
“The department of education confirms that food items had been delivered to 90% of the 5 444 schools, although there are reports of shortages in some of the schools.”
A 2020 research conducted by a University of Cape Town-based Children’s Institute revealed that KwaZulu-Natal had the highest statistics of of child hunger, saying it had two to four times the reported levels of hunger when compared to other provinces.
Rural districts carry the heavy brunt of child hunger and food shortage.
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