Latest news with #NationalSchoolNutritionProgramme
Daily Maverick
25-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Maverick
School children discover that more than 40% of school water samples they tested are unsafe
The Department of Basic Education has expressed 'concern' about the test results from seven provinces. Citizen science tests by children and teachers in seven provinces suggest that roughly 40% of the school water samples they collected are not safe to drink because of stomach bug bacteria and other water contaminants. While the informal testing project was based on a very small sample of schools – mainly in townships and rural areas – they nevertheless closely mirror the findings of the government's last official Blue Drop report, which found that 'it was not microbiologically safe to drink the water in almost half (46%) of our drinking water systems at times during 2022 when the Blue Drop audit was done'. The Blue Drop report also stated that the poor tap water quality found in many smaller municipalities increases the risk of life-threatening water-borne diseases such as cholera and chronic diarrhoea. In the latest Water Warriors test programme, children and teachers at 95 schools nationwide collected and analysed samples during a series of World Water Day events in March. Subsequent analysis showed that 43% of samples were classified as unsafe for human consumption due to unacceptable levels of bacterial contamination. Large plastic water storage containers (JoJo and similar tanks) showed the highest levels of contamination (73%) while 66% of river-collected water and 23% of municipal tap water samples were also contaminated with E. coli and other intestinal bugs. Dr Ferrial Adam, executive director of WaterCAN, a national civil society organisation which helped to initiate the project, said the results would be shared with all the schools involved and the Department of Basic Education. 'When schools lack clean water, the consequences are profound. Children fall ill. Teachers struggle to create safe learning environments. Families are forced to buy bottled water with money meant for food or transport. These are not isolated incidents – they are symptoms of systemic neglect,' she said. Increasingly, many schools across the country were operating with intermittent or no piped water supply, relying instead on boreholes, rainwater harvesting or water tank deliveries. These sources were often unreliable, poorly maintained or contaminated. Adam acknowledged that: 'This project was a snapshot, not a full picture. With 95 schools participating, this represents only a tiny fraction of the more than 24,000 schools in South Africa.' But the fact that more than 40% of the tested water samples were unsafe for drinking was 'alarming', and suggested that many more schools could be facing similar or worse conditions without knowing it. 'While we cannot generalise about the water quality status of all schools, the findings do highlight systemic concerns that likely apply nationwide.' Department of Basic Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga has also expressed 'concern' about the test results, noting that the National School Nutrition Programme – which provides meals to 9.6 million children daily – also depends on the water supply available in the areas where the schools are located. 'Any risk to which the learners are exposed poses a serious threat to the entire value chain thus placing the health of millions of children at risk. The report therefore raises critical matters that have an impact on schooling in the country.' 'Schools are beneficiaries of services rendered by municipalities and other organs of state, so they depend on those organisations established specifically to provide services that are needed for education to take place in a conducive environment.' The testing, under the umbrella of the Water Warriors Collective, was initiated by WaterCAN, with support from Adopt-a-River, the Wildlife and Environment Society, Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo, the Cape Town Science Centre, the Nelson Mandela Bay Science Centre, Makhanda River Rescue and the Leap Institute. The testing kits were supplied by the i-lab group which designed portable kits for non-scientific field operatives to do a basic water quality screening on chemicals (nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, chlorine, alkalinity, pH and hardness) and microbiological contamination (total coliform, E. coli) to determine the water's safety for human consumption. DM
IOL News
17-06-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Funding crisis in KZN Education Department, R900m pledged 'not enough'
Sadtu provincial secretary Nomarashiya Caluza says all outstanding allocations need to be paid. Image: Independent Newspapers Archives The R900 million pledged by the provincial government to tackle the funding crisis in the KwaZulu-Natal Education Department is insufficient to deal with all the outstanding issues plaguing the province's schools. This is according to a political party and labour union who said yesterday that more funding was needed. One source claimed that an additional R700m was needed. Last week, the provincial government committed to providing R900m for schools and for norms and standards funding after labour unions downed tools, which led to the disruption of exams at some schools. There had been reports that, as a result of the failure to disburse the funds, some teachers have been using their own funds to pay for school operations. Some school principals have claimed they are borrowing money to run school operations. This failure comes amid concerns that the numerous budget cuts by the national government have crippled the department financially. KZN Premier Thami Ntuli had said R900m has been secured to clear outstanding norms and standards payments, with disbursements to schools expected within three weeks. He also said the filling of teaching posts and timely payment of permanent and substitute educators would be prioritised, compensation for Grade R practitioners will be reviewed, and payments to National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) service providers will be expedited to ensure uninterrupted food deliveries to schools. DA spokesperson Sakhile Mngadi noted the announcement from the Premier's Office regarding the allocation of R900 million to schools for norms and standards funding but said it was not enough. This funding is needed for operational costs, including the purchase of stationery, cleaning materials and to pay for municipal services, including water and electricity. He said close to R700 million additional funding was needed to deal with all the issues. 'While this is a step in the right direction, it is nowhere near enough to address the real crisis. The Department of Education is sitting with unpaid accruals, and hundreds of schools across the province are struggling to function due to months of delayed payments,' Mngadi stated. He also said that the protest by teacher unions, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), had disrupted exams in some schools. 'Sadtu's action has disrupted primarily rural districts, with some exams being cancelled. The department isn't forthcoming about when the matter will be resolved.' Sadtu has warned that its members will continue with its work-to-rule campaign and union members will work the seven hours a day they are contracted to work. Teachers, especially those who teach grade 12, also hold extra morning, afternoon and weekend classes, which they are not paid for. Sadtu provincial secretary Nomarashiya Caluza commented, 'The money (R900m) is enough to cover the outstanding allocation to schools, which was supposed to be paid by May. What the union is fighting for is the allocation for May 2025 and the outstanding allocation for 2024. The union members are still working the contracted hours of 7 hours,' said Caluza. Regarding the exams, Sadtu said it has observed inconsistencies, with some schools cancelling exams while others proceeded as planned. The union said departmental leadership should provide clear guidance to ensure uniformity across all districts. The National Teachers' Union (NATU) said the intervention by the KwaZulu-Natal Premier was necessary. The union said its recent campaign, which included pickets at schools and district offices, has successfully pressured the provincial government to act on education funding. Thirona Moodley, provincial CEO of the National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa, said the financial challenges in the province have a direct impact on teaching and learning. 'The silence of the department is deafening and unacceptable. The department has shown no effort to improve the current circumstances. We have no substitutes in schools, and schools are not being paid their financial allocations. How do we expect schools to function? The department has collapsed, and Napotosa calls on the DBE to urgently intervene as the province has failed. When will it be enough?' She added that there had been some disruption to exams due to the crisis, stating, 'Some schools did not have the resources to print exam papers, but I did not have many of my schools report this to me.' KZN Education Department spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi stated that they are in serious engagement with Sadtu. 'There is now common ground, and we are just attending to the modalities.' THE MERCURY
IOL News
01-06-2025
- General
- IOL News
KwaZulu-Natal schools face food delivery problems due to non-payment of service providers
Service providers in the National School Nutrition Programme have warned that some KwaZulu-Natal schools will be without food for schools meals this week due to some service providers not being paid. Image: Pixabay Service providers contracted to feed KwaZulu-Natal schoolchildren have warned that some schools will not receive food deliveries on Monday, 2 June, due to non-payment of invoices by the provincial Department of Education. The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) Service Providers Association says many of its members have not been paid for April and earlier invoices despite submitting all necessary documentation, and the department has offered no formal communication or explanation for the delay. The issue of payments, either not being made or being late, have been a challenge since the start of the school year. Last month, the payment issues was also raised by the services providers. The KZN education department admitted that there had been some service providers who were not paid and said this was due to system errors. NSNP association spokesperson Thabang Mncwabe said the non-payment of some service providers "places over a million learners across the province at risk of going without food on Monday'. 'It not only undermines the constitutional rights of learners especially under Section 29(1)(a) of the Constitution, but also sets a disheartening tone for Youth Month.' The association said the department is in breach of Section 38(1)(f) of the Public Finance Management Act, which requires valid invoices to be paid within 30 days. 'We cannot allow financial mismanagement, poor planning, and a continued disregard for legal obligations to compromise the dignity, health, and education of South Africa's children,' Mncwabe said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading It called on the national Minister of Basic Education to urgently intervene and hold the provincial department accountable, while also demanding the immediate implementation of the Pretoria High Court ruling which the association affirms the rights of service providers to be paid on time. In response, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education admitted that some NSNP service providers were excluded from the most recent payment run, attributing it to technical problems related to the implementation of a new financial management system. 'The Department is affected following the implementation of the new Standard Charts of Accounts (SCOA V6), which includes a complete refreshing of the BAS technical environment,' it said. 'Whilst the Department captured all submitted invoices for the month of April and other previous months, a number of service providers were randomly omitted in the process,' it added. According to the department, the Provincial Treasury is investigating the cause of the omissions, and a special payment run has been scheduled for Tuesday, 3 June. Payments are expected to reflect by Friday, 6 June. MEC for Education Sipho Hlomuka appealed for understanding and urged schools to continue feeding learners where possible. 'We have requested that principals of schools whose service providers have been affected by this impasse humbly engage service providers to deliver food items to schools and also ensure that learners do not go hungry,' said Hlomuka. 'We call for patience and cooperation during this period of transition and frustration.' THE MERCURY
News24
08-05-2025
- Business
- News24
KZN education dept vows to pay fees owed to feeding schemes after protest over unpaid funds
Service providers for the National School Nutrition Programme protested over non-payment, with some claiming they haven't been paid since November 2024. The department said technica l issues from a recent upgrade to its financial system caused the delays. 78% of payments were completed by 24 April, and the remaining 22% are scheduled for 9 May. Disgruntled service providers for the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) are waiting with bated breath for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education to make outstanding payments. The provincial education department assured all service providers that payments would be made no later than Friday and described the ongoing delays as regrettable. On Monday, service providers took to the streets to protest outside the department's various district offices. They claimed that more than 50% of the service providers had not been paid for services rendered, while some claimed they were last paid in November last year, despite supplying food to schools in the province. National School Nutrition Programme Service Providers Association spokesperson Thabang Mcwabe said its members were struggling to cope. He added that the department's failure to provide solutions had left them with no choice but to down tools and protest. Update On the Payments to the National School Nutrition Programme Service Providers — KZN Education (@DBE_KZN) May 7, 2025 Mcwabe said that despite the department's promise that payments would be made by Friday, they were still concerned about the 22% of service providers whose payments had not been processed. 'This means 22% of learners in the province will still have to learn on an empty stomach. What a system, what a crime to humanity, we will not bow down until all payments are processed,' he said. The department said the delay in payments was caused by technical issues with its newly upgraded financial system. KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education HOD Nkosinathi Ngcobo said as of 24 April 2025, 78% of the payments were successfully processed. Ngcobo added that subsequent attempts to finalise the remaining payments on 25 April and 2 May were unsuccessful due to technical difficulties linked to the implementation of a new financial system, BAS Version 6, which is an upgrade from the previous BAS Version 5. He said the National Treasury's IT team was currently working around the clock to resolve the system failures. Ngcobo said the payment run that was scheduled to take place on Tuesday was successful for the remaining 22% of unpaid service providers and that they would receive their payments on 9 May. ALSO READ | He added that the department had full records of all unpaid service providers. Ngcobo said these lists had been shared with district offices to ensure that affected service providers were kept informed and that no further disruptions should occur in the provision of meals to pupils. 'We acknowledge the concerns raised by our valued service providers and wish to assure them that the department is doing everything possible to resolve the technical glitches affecting payment processes,' he said. 'The problem has nothing to do with the financial difficulties of the department, for the NSNP is paid from the grant allocation.' KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli said they were aware that the Department of Education had confirmed that payments would be made on Friday.
The Citizen
08-05-2025
- The Citizen
School feeding scheme in crisis as payments stall
Amid payment chaos, the DA and unions demand urgent action to save the school nutrition programme. The KwaZulu-Natal education department yesterday made an undertaking to pay National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) service providers amid threats by the DA to have the department placed under administration for its 'poor management' of the programme. While the department insists it has so far paid 78% of the NSNP service providers, the contractors said those who have been paid have not been paid in full. NSNP association representative Siboniso Xulu said despite the government having set aside funds for the NSNP programme, the KZN education department has shifted the financial burden for running the programme to the service providers. Unpaid National School Nutrition Programme contracts 'We have not been paid for the work we did in March and April. We are forced to use our own money to keep the feeding scheme going because if we don't, the children will starve,' he said. 'As things stand, some of us have not been paid a cent in the past two months while those who have been paid, have been paid half of what is due to them.' South African Democratic Teachers Union provincial secretary Dolly Caluza said the union believes 'the department has collapsed; it can't do anything. As we speak, some Grade R practitioners have not been paid'. ALSO READ: Tinned fish missing: Saps arrest suspects with stolen school food 'The department is struggling to pay service providers for the school nutrition programme, acting personnel are not paid their acting allowances and some officials cannot attend important workshops.' She said Grade R teachers have had their employment contracts terminated by the department. The teachers were on annual renewable contracts that ended at the end of March every year. 'This does not make sense as the department always renews the contracts. Grade R teachers not paid 'We don't understand why they remove them in the first place, so that workers are not subjected to the pain of not getting their salaries,' Caluza said. 'These workers are also subjected to a salary that does not match the qualifications and experience they have. 'We have engaged the employer on this and it promised to ask the office of the premier to assist with review of the issue, but it appears that was unsuccessful as there is no indication that these Grade R teachers would be relieved of this pain any time soon.' ALSO READ: Ex-school officials arrested for stealing over R35 000 in school nutrition funds The DA's KwaZulu-Natal education spokesperson and MPL Sakhile Mngadi said this was not an administrative hiccup but a 'gross dereliction of duty and a broader systemic failure' by the provincial education authorities.
