MBOMBELA – Pending the court action to keep its service providers for the National Schools Nutrition Programme (NSNP), the Department of Education has incurred R87,2 million in irregular expenditure in the previous financial year.
According to the department’s answers to the portfolio committee on the details of the R161 million in irregular spending incurred in the 2014/15 financial year, which was obtained from the DA, the R87,2 million was “as a result of the High Court finding against the department in terms of awarding of the bid for the NSNP”.
In May last year the High Court set aside the three-year contracts to 17 service providers. The judge found, “The deviations from fair process are symptoms of corruption or malfeasance in the process and the unfair process betoken a deliberately skewed process”.
The HOD, Ms Mohlasedi Mhlabane, was ordered to readjudicate the tenders, upon which the department made representations to the court where the matter continued, while the original service providers kept supplying the programme.
- Read more: Court orders officials to pay over tenders
The Office of the Premier, Mr David Mabuza’s Rapid Implementation Unit had been called in to fast-track the original awarding of the contracts. He, along with the HOD and MEC Ms Reginah Mhaule, were ordered to pay the legal fees of the losing bidders.
Spokesman for the department, Mr Jasper Zwane, said the R87,2 million was absolutely not used towards the legal fees, but to feed the 882 809 learners for the 196 feeding days. Since the service providers’ contracts were on a month-to-month basis due to the pending court case, and not on the intended three-year contracts, the Auditor-General (AG) considered it as irregular expenditure.
In total, the department spent R525 million on the NSNP in 2014/15 at R2,73 per meal for primary learners and R3,55 for secondary learners in no fee schools.
“This (irregular spending) does not suggest that money was wastefully used or misused. Suppliers have since been supplying food to schools based on their contractual obligation they entered into with the department. The court case is still pending which makes the matter sub judice.
“At no stage was the said amount used to defend any case as you are suggesting. Legal fees were in fact far less than R1 million.”
DA MPL Ms Jane Sithole, the party’s spokesman for education, said the problem is that department continued not to follow prescribed supply chain and procurement processes.
“For two years they have continued to pay these providers, every month. They are spending time and money in court, defending the wrong they are doing. Whether they spend R5 or R500 in court, they are wasting money.”
Earlier this year the South African National Civic Organisation, said at least eight service providers had complained to the organisation about orders to supply food for two fewer days in March, due to an alleged shortfall in budget.
- See also: Two hungry days for children
According to the department’s response to the portfolio committee, an additional R4 million in irregular expenditure was incurred as a result of “non-compliance with supply chain and treasury regulations on procurement through deviations and overpayment of NSNP invoices.”
Zwane concluded: “All deserving learners in quartile 1-3 schools received what was due to them in terms of the NSNP. The department had not received any information to the contrary from schools.”
