Note to editors: Please find attached English and Sesotho soundbite by Karabo Khakhau MP and Afrikaans soundbite by Willie Aucamp MP.
The DA welcomes the Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube’s decision to stop the issuing of a R9.8 billion tender which would have centralised procurement for the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) under a single provider.
Each province currently administers its own NSNP, which provides at least one meal a day to more than 9.6 million learners. Last year both the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal left thousands of learners without meals and just two weeks ago, the DA in Gauteng uncovered that thousands of learners were either going hungry or being fed subpar meals due to concerns regarding a R1 billion tender. Cadres cannot eat while children starve.
For many learners, their NSNP meals are the only meals they receive in a day. With South Africa’s high rate of malnutrition and stunting, the successful implementation of the NSNP is crucial.
While it is clear that various provinces have been struggling to manage their NSNP programmes and provide learners with nutritious meals, centralisation is hardly the answer. Instead, the struggling provinces should learn from those provinces that successfully manage to provide nutritious meals.
The DA has faith that Minister Gwarube will use the information gleaned from her investigation to ensure that all provinces are held accountable for their NSNPs and to ensure that learners do not have to go to school hungry.
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