Minister Motshekga must urgently explain to Parliament delays in implementing school feeding scheme

6 August 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will write to the Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education to request an emergency meeting with the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga in order for her to explain the ongoing delays regarding the reopening the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP).

According to papers filed by the Minister, the delays are due to her ongoing consultation with National Treasury to attempt to negotiate an increase in budget for the implementation of the programme. With the exception of the Western Cape, most of the school feeding programmes have not been in operation since the Covid-19 lockdown was announced on 26 March 2020. This means that for the past 134 days, millions of children dependent on the NSNP for regular nutritious meals have had to suffer in the knowledge that they might not eat that day.

What happened to the money allocated to the NSNP in the budget, Minister? It was certainly not used in this time to feed hungry children.

Judge Sulet Potterill made it clear in her judgment on 16 July 2020 that the NSNP should be implemented as soon as possible. She said, “The affidavits from teachers, learners and parents capture the reality on the ground. They make it clear that hunger is not a problem, hunger is an obscenity.”

These children cannot wait until the end of August for the programme to be reopened, as the Minister indicated in her court documents. It must be done immediately. What children dependent on the NSNP is facing will not just impact their daily lives for this moment in time; it may cause severe developmental disorders that will have far reaching consequences for them, and the whole of South Africa.

The Minister and the eight rogue Education MECs cannot begin to understand the prospect of facing daily hunger for another 3 weeks or more. Nor can they understand how these children are on the brink of starvation because of them callously dragging their feet. It truly is an obscenity and cannot be allowed to continue a minute more.

Issued by Chantel King, DA Member of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, 6 August 2020