Question NW150 to the Minister of Basic Education

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17 July 2019 - NW150

Profile picture: Ngcobo, Mr S

Ngcobo, Mr S to ask the Minister of Basic Education

(1)Whether there are any specific measures in place to ensure that provinces roll out the school nutrition programme in a manner that will benefit the learners as the legitimate beneficiaries rather than money disappearing into the pockets of the service providers; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) whether she will promulgate national guidelines to determine how the service providers are selected in an equitable and fair manner to avoid provincial departments being taken to court while learners suffer all the time as it sometimes happen; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

1. The national Department of Basic Education has a responsibility to oversee, guide, monitor and support the provinces in the implementation of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), and to ensure compliance with National Treasury regulations and the Conditional Grant Framework in particular. The Provincial Education Departments on the other hand, have a key responsibility to implement the programme in line with the applicable prescripts and guidance. Procurement of services for the NSNP is a provincial responsibility. To ensure that learners benefit maximally, the Conditional Grant Framework of the NSNP specifies the following conditions: the percentage of funds that are to be used for procurement and cooking of meals (feeding); the quality of school meals; as well responsibilities for districts and provinces with respect to monitoring and support to ensure adherence.

2. The selection of service providers in the NSNP is managed like all procurement processes in the public service. The selection is done by provinces in line with the Supply Chain Management (SCM) System processes and applicable prescripts. Where the procurement model is centralised (Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Western Cape), an open tender process is followed. In the remaining provinces where the decentralised model is used and funds are transferred to schools, the 3 quotation system is mostly utilised, as determined by the ceiling price of the service in line with SCM prescripts. In all instances, procurement is required to be open, fair, transparent, equitable, effective and efficient, among others. The DBE has developed a guideline for schools on the management of NSNP funds which was disseminated to provinces and districts. School Management Teams were trained on the use of this guideline.

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