Durban — As 2.4 million pupils return to schools on Tuesday, there is uncertainty whether food will be available for poor children.
The confusion has been created by conflicting statements between the Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal and the main supplier, Pacina Retail, over the termination of the contract. After the department announced the termination of the contract, the company hit back disputing the termination which left many confused as to who would deliver food as the schools reopen on Tuesday.
The KwaZulu-Natal Suppliers Forum said that its members would deliver food, assuring parents and schools that the situation has returned to normal, while Pacina said that its contract was still in force.
The forum’s provincial secretary, Xolani Shange, told the Daily News on Monday that after Education Department head Nkosinathi Ngcobo issued a circular on Wednesday, in which he invoked the original terms of the contract, his members went out to retail shops to purchase stock to be ready for delivery.
Shange said that his organisation had no business with what was happening between Pacina Retail and the department, adding that as his forum members had a contract with the department they were obliged to answer to it, and not to Pacina.
"We hear that Pacina says its contract is still in force but we are not affected by that since we did not have a contract with the company but with the department,“ said Shange.
“All we want to say is to assure schools and parents that they should allow kids to come to schools because the food will be available.
“As I speak to you, contractors are posting their non-perishable stocks packed at their garages ready for delivery,” he said.
He made a call to school governing bodies, opposition parties and civil society organisations to visit schools on Tuesday to observe for themselves that all pupils would have food.
Shange’s call came after confusion reigned after the ANC's announcement of the termination of the contract on Wednesday. This was followed by Pacina’s statement at the weekend disputing the announcement.
In a statement issued by company director Manzini Zungu, he said the contract was still in force and he gave the assurance that his company would continue supplying food to service providers who were contracted by the department to deliver food items to schools.
Pacina’s defiance was backed by legal opinion which said the contract had not been legally terminated. Speaking to the paper on Friday, legal analyst Mpumelelo Zikalala said that both Pacina and the Department of Education would have to look at the terms and conditions in the service level agreement before reaching the termination stage.
Contrary to Shange’s statement, sources close to Pacina said in spite of the department’s circular directing service providers to purchase food items for themselves, many were still collecting from Pacina warehouses and designated collection points. A source said that even on Monday service providers were seen collecting food from Pacina. The source cited areas such as Msinga in the middle of the province, where most service providers collected items from Pacina collection points.
The department's spokesperson, Muzi Mahlambi, said the department still maintained what it said in the circular.
The school feeding scheme debacle, which emerged three weeks ago, has drawn criticism from all quarters of the country which prompted the ANC and Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to call for an investigation.
There are reports that even the Special Investigating Unit has entered the fray and was waiting for a proclamation by President Cyril Ramaphosa. A question at the centre of the saga was how the contract was awarded since, according to service providers, it was not even advertised.
Last week, Basic Education Department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said that an investigation team from the head office was on the ground in the province probing the matter.
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