Durban — The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) Service Providers’ Association has commended the Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, for her “courageous” decision to scrap the contentious R10 billion NSNP tender.
The association said: “The bold and decisive action has not only spared dozens of small businesses from plunging into poverty and debt but has also safeguarded the livelihoods of local suppliers, farmers, and the communities that rely on the programme.”
The association further said that alongside its partners, it has consistently voiced concerns about the centralisation of the NSNP procurement system; it posed a significant threat to small enterprises and the broader objectives of empowering local economies. It firmly believed that this tender system was a concoction for disaster, which would have negatively impacted learners by creating food supply chain inefficacies and jeopardising the sustainability of the programme.
“We applaud the minister for heeding the call from our association and other stakeholders who have stood firm in opposing this ‘ill-conceived system’. Her decision reflects her commitment to ensuring that the education system, and in particular NSNP, operates in a manner that aligns with the principles of fairness, inclusivity and community empowerment.”
Human rights organisation Section27 on its website stated that for targeting schools in socio-economic quintiles one, two and three, the NSNP has been widely celebrated as one of the government’s most effective “pro-poor” interventions for its impressive scope.
“The NSNP reaches the most vulnerable children in the country.”
Speaking to eNCA, Section27 praised the education minister for preventing a “disaster from happening” as the programme feeds nearly 10 million pupils.
Matshidiso Lencoasa said that the centralised and decentralised both have disadvantages and advantages but it is important to scrutinise every decision and ensure that it is in the interests of school pupils.
In a statement on the DBE website, director-general Mathanzima Mweli said that the NSNP has been underfunded over several years which has placed tremendous pressure on the ability of the programme to address hunger and malnutrition. In addition, in the post-Covid period, the programme has come under increasing pressure to admit poor children in quintiles 4-5 into the programme. In terms of the conditional grant framework of the NSNP only quintiles 1 to 3 schools (the poorest schools) qualify for the NSNP.
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