Lobby groups have accused the department of basic education of not acting in accordance with the 'spirit' and 'intent' of the court judgment to provide meals to beneficiaries of national school nutrition programme.
Equal Education, Equal Education Law Centre and Section 27 said they were disappointed and angry that despite a court order, the department has failed to provide clear plans for resuming the feeding scheme as pupils have been forced to stay home because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Julia Chaskalson, Section 27’s spokesperson, said many learners who received meals from the NSNP came from families dependent on social grants such as the caregiver support grant or the disability grant.
“The NSNP is meant to supplement the nutrition that learners receive from home. We know from past experience that during periods of school closure, learners and their entire families have experienced hunger: without access to school meals, the entire family can be put under pressure because there are more mouths to feed,” she said.
In July, North Gauteng high court acting deputy judge president Sulet Potterill, in a declaratory order, said minister Angie Motshekga and eight education MECs were in breach of their constitutional duties for failing to roll out the NSNP to all eligible learners whether back at school or at home.
Equal Education spokesperson Jay-Dee Cyster said they were concerned that the department has not made public its preparations to resume the feeding scheme.
Department of basic education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the judgment did not rule that the department should feed pupils during school holidays.
“They are extending the truth, technically speaking schools are still closed but the department has asked provinces to open school nutrition and feeding is taking place,” he said.
Mhlanga said North West, Western Cape, Gauteng and Limpopo provinces had already started with the school nutrition programme.
Speaking on behalf of parents in the Western Cape, Daphne Erosi said a number of children were left destitute after the closure of schools last year.
“Some parents survive on government grants, which is not enough to take care of their families. At least through NSNP, children had a guaranteed meal a day. Some parents are jobless after they were retrenched as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown. This year parents had not received any messages to send their children to school for the feeding scheme,” she said.
In Ngqamakhwe, a rural town in Eastern Cape, a 16-year-old boy who will be starting Grade 12 this year said life was difficult for his family.
“I have two siblings that I am looking after and we stay with my unemployed aunt. My mother died last year in a bus incident that claimed the lives of many people from around this area. The school food helped us a lot because my aunt could not hustle food for supper,” he said.
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