Service providers for KwaZulu-Natal’s National School Nutrition Programme has threatened legal action against the Department of Education as they said there has been poor communication regarding the renewal of their contracts which end next year. Picture: Independent Newspapers Archives
Image: Independent Newspapers Archives
Service providers for KwaZulu-Natal’s National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) are threatening legal action against the provincial Department of Education over what they describe as uncertainty and poor communication regarding the renewal of their contracts.
In a letter sent by their attorneys, the service providers raise concern over the department’s failure to respond to earlier correspondence seeking confirmation that their contracts will be renewed for a further two years.
In their letter, they warn that if the department proceeds with cancelling the contracts or advertising new tenders, they will approach the courts for an urgent interdict.
The letter further accuses the department of acting in breach of the current agreement and demands a response by today, March 24.
Thabang Mncwabe, spokesperson for NSNP Service Providers Association explained that although the original contract was set for three years, it included an option for a two-year extension. However, the renewal clause does not clearly state which party has the right to initiate the extension.
They are therefore seeking clarity from the department on the extension or renewal clause.
However, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education insists that no contracts are to be cancelled.
“The department is not cancelling any contracts,” said departmental spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi.
He said: “The department has a 3-year contract with NSNP service providers which will come to an end in March or April 2026.”
Mahlambi said that the department is initiating long-term planning ahead of the contract expiry to avoid the chaos experienced in the past.
“New service providers with a new contract will start in April 2026 following relevant procurement processes that the department would have followed. Such processes take very long and if we start them now it doesn't mean the cancellation of the existing contracts,” he said.
“Contracts are contracts, they have a starting and an ending time. We have learnt our lessons from the previous years and we would want when that time comes to have a seamless transition.”
The NSNP contractors say their legal action is not only about silence over the contract renewals but also in response to comments made by Basic Education Director-General Mathanzima Mweli.
Mweli blamed the high number of food service providers contracted in KwaZulu-Natal for the province’s inability to provide two meals per day to schoolchildren.
Speaking during a parliamentary committee meeting last week, Mweli said that unlike in other provinces where learners can receive both breakfast and lunch at school, this is not possible in KZN due to the high cost of paying over 1,700 service providers.
“It will never happen in KZN that learners are provided with both breakfast and lunch, because too many contractors have been hired to supply food to schools. This is too expensive,” said Mweli.
He added that the school feeding model varies across provinces, but there have been efforts to standardise it nationally. “That’s why we wanted changes to be made to the programme so that learners can receive the same thing across the country.”
Mweli said this was the motivation behind an earlier attempt to centralise the appointment of service providers under one entity to cut costs, a move that ultimately failed.
“That’s why we had wanted a single service provider, to save money. That plan didn’t work, but we still have hope that it can happen.”
Mncwabe criticised Mweli’s statements saying that was lacking a scientific basis and claimed contractors were being unfairly blamed for the department’s own budget management challenges.