Thousands of KZN learners who rely on the National School Nutrition Programme have gone hungry this past week.

It has been reported that this was because food had not been delivered to thousands of schools since classes resumed last Wednesday.

As a result, some learners are sent home early as they are unable to concentrate on an empty stomach.

DA lashes out

MPL and DA KZN spokesperson on education Dr Imran Keeka says upon reading of the reports, the DA in the province has demanded immediate answers from provincial Education MEC Mbali Frazer.

“This is not only a shocking and disgraceful incident; it also smacks of incompetence. The buck stops with the MEC, who must fix this mess rather than accept the usual feeble excuses from her spokespeople or spin doctors. The alternative is that more days of hunger will ensue.”

Principals protest

Principals of schools in the Ladysmith area yesterday handed over a memorandum of demands to the Department of Education.

These schools fall under the Ladysmith Circuit Management Cluster and are part of the National School Nutrition Programme.

Headmasters came in their numbers to the Department of Education offices in Murchison Street, demanding to speak to the district director.

One of the burning issues is non-delivery of food since the schools re-opened after the Easter holidays.

The principals claim that, as a result of this issue, teaching and learning has been disrupted.

“In the past week, we had to let the learners go home early, as we understand that we could not continue teaching them in the knowledge that they had not eaten anything. Some of these learners rely on the food provided at school and since there is none, they end up not attending classes,” says one principal.

They say they want the district director to forward their complaints to the provincial offices and they expect a viable solution as soon as possible.

Department seeks cause, solution

The provincial department in a media statement yesterday said that Frazer tasked the top management of the department to ‘swiftly investigate the root cause and the possible solution’.

Their investigation found that logistical challenges experienced by the provider were to blame.

“The KZN Department of Education confirms that food items have been delivered to 90% of the 5 444 schools, although there are reports of shortages at some schools like in Ugu District and these are currently being attended,” their statement concludes.