The bidding process for the multi-billion rand KwaZulu-Natal schools nutrition tender has been drawn into controversy after some of the bidders claimed that officials of the Department of Education are targeting their companies for exclusion.
The allegations are that companies belonging to the leadership of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) Service Providers Association are targeted and excluded.
This follows a sour relationship between the department and the association after it repeatedly flagged the former for failing to pay its members on time and getting basic administrative work right in the similar tender that is set to lapse soon.
Credible information
Spokesperson for the association, Thabang Mncwabe, told Sunday World that they have received “credible information” from internal sources within the department where it was decided that their leaders and companies should be elbowed out during the bidding process.
“An internal departmental report, which has come to our attention, shockingly reveals instructions allegedly made to ensure that executive members of the association are, ‘by all means possible’, not awarded contracts under the current NSNP tender. Furthermore, it has come to light that officials within the department have identified a list of companies associated with the association’s leadership and have shared an alleged predetermined list of preferred bidders.
Adjudication process
“This list was reportedly leaked from the hotel venue where the adjudication process is secretly taking place. It raises serious questions about the transparency and integrity of the entire process,” Mncwabe alleged.
He added that if the allegations are confirmed, it constitutes not only a violation of the principles of fair administrative justice and procurement legislation, but also a gross abuse of power aimed at silencing voices that have consistently fought for accountability, timely payments, food quality standards, and the empowerment of local service providers — especially SMMEs, women, and youth.
“The NSNP Service Providers Association strongly condemns these unethical and potentially unlawful practices. We will closely monitor the unfolding situation and will not hesitate to take further action, including legal recourse, should the process prove to be manipulated or prejudiced against our members,” he added.
Furthermore, he said the learners of this province, many of whom depend on the NSNP for their only nutritious meal of the day, deserve no less.
Calls for probe into matter
“We further call upon oversight bodies, the Public Protector, the Auditor-General, and relevant oversight bodies to urgently investigate this matter. A democratic state cannot tolerate a culture of selective exclusion, internal sabotage, and procurement driven by factionalism.”’
Spokesperson of the department, Muzi Mahlambi, said there is no need for the association to cry foul, as the process to appoint companies is still underway.
“The process is still underway [and] has not been finalised for any to cry foul,” Mahlambi briefly said to Sunday World.
