KZN learners starving yet Premier remains silent

17 April 2023

The IFP in the KZN Legislature is questioning the whereabouts of the KZN Premier, Nomusa Dube Ncube, following multiple reports of learners at thousands of schools being left to starve by the KZN Department of Education, under the leadership of MEC for Education, Mbali Frazer.

Why is the Premier silent on this matter?

Learners are going hungry in many districts due to the incompetence of the KZN MEC for Education, Mbali Frazer, as suppliers allegedly failed to deliver food to schools.

As the IFP, we call on KZN Premier, Nomusa Dube Ncube, to break her silence and provide assurances that this crisis will be resolved swiftly. The Premier should have demanded answers from the KZN MEC for Education about the food crisis. Her silence appears to communicate that she is not concerned about the welfare of learners, and that she is in support of MEC.

The IFP demands the following answers from the KZN MEC for Education:

Why did food suppliers not deliver food to schools on time when schools reopened on 12 April 2023?

How many schools did not receive food on time on 12 April 2023? Please provide a total breakdown per district, name of school and area where each school is situated.

Which suppliers were appointed under the National School Nutrition Programme in KZN? Please provide a full list of all suppliers, name/s and surname/s of suppliers, as well as contact number/s.

How much is paid to each supplier/s per month for delivering food to school/s?

How many school/s are allocated to each supplier responsible for delivering food to schools?

These questions must be answered by the MEC as the political head of the Department, and the Premier as leader of the provincial government.

Further, if an IFP MEC was responsible for the food shortages and leaving learners to starve, the ANC would have hurled insults and called for her resignation. However, it appears that in this case, comradeship in the ANC is taking centre stage at the expense of learners. The KZN ANC provincial leadership - in particular Bheki Mtolo, Sboniso Duma, as well as SASCO, the KZN ANCWL and the ANCYL – are silent on this matter.

One would expect them to be vocal about such a serious issue, that impacts thousands of schools and many thousands of learners. The ANC is quick to write letters to the MEC for COGTA so that she can interfere in the IFP-led municipalities, yet the MEC for Education escapes any criticism. This is hypocrisy of the highest order.

The IFP demands that Premier Nomusa Dube Ncube urgently summon the KZN MEC for Education to explain why learners are being left to starve, and to offer immediate solutions to the crisis.

Issued by Thembeni Kamadlopha-mthethwa, IFP KZN Provincial Spokesperson for Education, 17 April 2023