ActionSA welcomes NSNP supplier’s decision to terminate contract with Department of Education

26 April 2023

ActionSA welcomes the decision made by PacinaRetail Pty LTD to pull out from the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), after the company was awarded a multi-million Rand tender to supply food to over 5400 schools across KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), but failed to act within their contractual agreement with the Department of Education, leaving over 2 million learners to go hungry.

We acknowledge this as the first step towards uncovering the true dynamics of the tender award, what led to the main supplier’s failure to deliver food to schools across the Province, and what steps - if any - were taken by the Department of Education after learning of this calamity.

Unfortunately, while we welcome the company’s decision to pull out from the tender, we cannot allow the matter to fizzle out after causing great dysfunction amongst thousands of schools and millions of lives, we hope that an announcement for a forensic investigation into the matter by an independent body will soon follow.

We also welcome the statement published by the African National Congress (ANC) in the Province calling for the immediate termination of the contract, after labelling the issue of schools not receiving food, a “minor hiccup”. It is ActionSA’s pressure that has made the ANC recognise the severity of the crisis.

However, the ANC’s silence on the need for a forensic investigation is deafening. It is concerning that after such a crisis, the ruling party in the Province is fearful of calling for this investigation to be launched, after the rights and dignity of the millions of learners were violated.

As ActionSA, we are pleased with the Premier's timeous response to the letter we wrote to her seeking for the termination of the contract, and the call for a forensic investigation. This displayed her genuine concern and her understanding of the importance of the matter.

Considering the Premier's positive response, we will wait for her office to formally announce the termination of the contract and the commencement of the forensic investigation.

Issued by Zwakele Mncwango, ActionSA KwaZulu-Natal Chairperson, 26 April 2023