Food prices impact school feeding programme

Service providers are concerned about ‘unreasonable increases’ in food prices by suppliers.

KZN Chairperson of the National School Nutrition Programme Service Providers’ Association, Lindani Matiwane, said the situation has made it difficult to supply food to schools.

“What we wish is for the government to intervene through policy legislation, exempting us from taxation, as the rising prices are making it difficult to stick to the current budget from the government,” said Matiwane.

King Cetshwayo District’s regional chairperson, Siboniso Xulu, said with schools due to reopen in three weeks, some of their members are not ready to provide services.

“As we operate in the most rural region, we face challenges ranging from late payments from the department to improper cluster allocations, which end up costing us in running our business,” said Xulu.

He said the region comprises 195 service providers; however, due to difficulties, some have withdrawn, making it harder for those remaining to service the schools.

“We are only considered for a 5% increase per year; however, petrol and food prices often go up, yet we are expected to deliver on a similar budget from the government,” he concluded.

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