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By Levy Masiteng
The remaining 22% of unpaid National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) service providers will be paid this week, according to Gauteng education department that set a payment run for Monday.
They were expected to receive their payments on Thursday.
According to the department, technical difficulties linked to the implementation of a new financial system, BAS Version 6, had caused the delays in processing payments.
As of 24 April 24, 278% of payments had been successfully processed.
The department said the National Treasury’s IT team was working to resolve the system failures.
“We acknowledge the concerns raised by our valued service providers and wish to assure them that the department is doing everything possible to resolve the technical glitches affecting payment processes,” said department HOD Nkosinathi Ngcobo.
However, the Democratic Alliance has expressed concern over the department’s financial management, describing it as a “crisis” that was now threatening the wellbeing of millions of learners and the constitutional viability of the province’s education system.
The party has requested an urgent special legislature sitting to address various issues plaguing the department.
DA KZN education spokesperson Sakhile Mngadi said the department’s failure to pay NSNP service providers during March and April was a “gross dereliction of duty and a broader systemic failure”.
“As schools reopen today, suppliers are staging a sit-in while KZN’s more than two million learners – many of whom rely on school meals as their only daily source of nutrition – are at risk of returning to classrooms with empty stomachs,” he said.
Mngadi said the department has made financial promises it could not legally keep.
He warned that if the department failed to promptly implement corrective measures, the party would support invoking Section 18 of the Public Finance Management Act, which could lead to the department being placed under administration.
“We remain committed to transparency, timeous communication and the uninterrupted provision of meals to our learners across the province,” said Ngcobo.
INSIDE EDUCATION
