KZN education department resolves school meals issue as payments finalised

The KwaZulu-Natal education department has resolved outstanding payment issues with school nutrition suppliers.

The department came under fire this week when it emerged that thousands of pupils were at risk of going hungry because service providers for the National Schools Nutrition Programme (NSNP) had not received their payments for April and May.

Service providers staged a sit-in at the department offices in Pietermaritzburg on Monday protesting against the nonpayment.

The department responded by acknowledging payments to 22% of the suppliers had been delayed due to technical issues associated with a new payment system.

“By April 24 78% of the payments were successfully processed. Subsequent attempts to finalise the remaining payments on April 25 and May 2 were unsuccessful due to technical difficulties linked to the implementation of a new financial system, Basic Accounting System (BAS) version 6, which is an upgrade from the previous BAS version 5.

“The National Treasury’s IT team is working to resolve the system failures,” provincial spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said at the time.

A new payment run was scheduled for Monday which would see the unpaid service providers receive their payments on Thursday.

Mahlambi said on Wednesday the payment run was successful and the service providers can expect their payments to reflect on Friday.

“The department has full records of unpaid service providers. These lists have been shared with district offices to ensure affected service providers are kept informed and no further disruptions occur in the provision of meals to learners.”

The department’s well-documented financial woes have been largely attributed to overspending on staff compensation which makes up 82% of its budget allocation. That has limited its ability to fund other services and infrastructure projects.

Parties in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature have also expressed concern about the situation, noting it was happening not long after reports that some grade R teachers had not been paid on time and the department had been flagged in the National Assembly for financial noncompliance under section 18 of the Public Finance Management Act, which allows for direct national intervention.

The EFF called for the intervention of provincial Treasury whereas the DA, partners in the government of provincial unity, said it would support the triggering of section 18, including placing the department under administration, if corrective measures were not implemented immediately.

However, head of department Nkosinathi Ngcobo denied there were any links between the issue of unpaid NSNP suppliers and the department’s financial difficulties.

“We acknowledge the concerns raised by our service providers and assure them 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. We remain committed to transparency, timely communication and the uninterrupted provision of meals to our learners in KZN.

“We thank all stakeholders for their patience and co-operation as we work to stabilise the system and maintain the integrity of the NSNP.”

TimesLIVE