EFF tender squabble sees school children going hungry in Limpopo
Several children had no meals on the first day of schools reopening on Monday as the department of basic education in Limpopo is allegedly involved in a legal tussle over a R1 billion feeding scheme tender with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
Picture: iStock
The move has since angered both the Congress of SA Students (Cosas) and the Public Servants Association (PSA), who are both calling for urgent intervention.
“We cannot fold our arms and wait for manna from heaven to come down and feed our children,” Cosas Limpopo provincial secretary Scalo Mahladisa said yesterday.
“The department should just conduct an urgent introspection because weeks ago it claimed all was well and all children would receive their meals when the schools reopen.”
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Up to 165,206 school pupils from quintile one to three are fed by the Limpopo department of education every day of the school calendar.
These are poor schools in villages or semi-urban areas of Limpopo.
On Monday, Cosas leaders visited schools in the Capricorn, Vhembe, Mopani, Waterberg and Sekhukhune districts to monitor Covid compliance and to check that learning and teaching had started.
“We can confirm that more than 20 schools we visited had no food. This means kids from these schools had to learn with empty stomachs,” said Mahladisa.
“When asked why, all of them pointed fingers at the department.
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“We have written to the department seeking answers. We want them to tell us who is responsible. Why are they not fed and what action are they going to take against those responsible because, when elephants fight, it’s the grass that always suffers,” said Mahladisa.
PSA chair in Limpopo Cornelius Sebothoma concurred, saying the department must stop deceiving people and admit that Limpopo is not ready to welcome children for the third term.
“I can also confirm that children were not fed in Millennium combined, Hleketwani primary and Mohape secondary schools in Capricorn and Waterberg districts. This is a shame because all these kids are from poor families. Maybe they even slept with empty tummies,” he said.
“Other problems faced by the schools in the province ranged from inadequate personal protective equipment, dysfunctional scanners, shortage of sanitisers, water supply and proper toilets.”
Basic education MEC Polly Boshielo and the EFF battled it out for the controversial R1 billion feeding scheme tender, as reported in The Citizen two weeks ago.
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A service provider has taken the department to court, accusing it of political polarisation and nepotism in the awarding of the lucrative tender.
The department said yesterday it had sent communiques – which The Citizen has seen – to all service providers contracted to supply food to schools to do so.
Spokesperson Didimalo Chuene said the department was still waiting for a comprehensive report from districts about what transpired on Monday.
She, however, branded the failure to deliver food due to a court order as untrue.
– news@citizen.co.za
