Durban - DA member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL) Dr Imran Keeka says a letter of complaint from a whistle-blower has been received by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on contract procedures related to the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education.
Keeka said he received confirmation of the complaint in his correspondence with SIU officials, which he shared with The Mercury yesterday.
According to the correspondence, the SIU had asked the provincial education department for documentation related to the awarding of the contract so it could assess the complaint.
Keeka said the SIU had indicated to him that they had yet to receive the response.
The SIU did not respond to questions from The Mercury yesterday.
The NSNP saga has seen both the provincial Education Department and KZN government being criticised for the handling of the contract which has resulted in thousands of pupils not receiving food in schools.
IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa yesterday called for an immediate termination of the contract, charging that the single contractor appointed by the KZN Department of Education last December had failed to carry out the mandate of ensuring that millions of pupils were fed.
Addressing a media briefing in Durban yesterday, the IFP also called on KZN Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube to launch an immediate investigation into the situation, and to reinstate the previous contractors, while developing a more efficient system that would ensure the delivery of quality food to all schools in the province.
Hlabisa said their members had been in different parts of the province and they did not believe that the department had managed to provide food to 90% of the schools, dismissing such a claim as a cover-up.
“This contract must be terminated immediately because it has failed,” said Hlabisa, adding that they were giving the provincial government a week to attend to the matter
The ANC also joined the fray, calling for the matter to be attended to so that pupils were not compromised any further and for those responsible for the debacle to be held accountable.
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said: “We
welcome the national Department of Basic Education’s comprehensive investigation on this concerning matter,” she said.
“The ANC calls on the Department of Monitoring and Evaluation to ensure that the Department of Basic Education, together with the Education Department in KwaZulu-Natal, work tirelessly to restore feeding in all schools in the province. For the ANC, a major and pressing priority is to ensure that learners are not compromised any further,” she said.