KZN education dept vows to pay fees owed to feeding schemes after protest over unpaid funds
Service providers for the National School Nutrition Programme protested over non-payment, with some claiming they haven't been paid since November 2024.
The department said technica l issues from a recent upgrade to its financial system caused the delays.
78% of payments were completed by 24 April, and the remaining 22% are scheduled for 9 May.
Disgruntled service providers for the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) are waiting with bated breath for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education to make outstanding payments.
The provincial education department assured all service providers that payments would be made no later than Friday and described the ongoing delays as regrettable.
On Monday, service providers took to the streets to protest outside the department's various district offices.
They claimed that more than 50% of the service providers had not been paid for services rendered, while some claimed they were last paid in November last year, despite supplying food to schools in the province.
National School Nutrition Programme Service Providers Association spokesperson Thabang Mcwabe said its members were struggling to cope.
He added that the department's failure to provide solutions had left them with no choice but to down tools and protest.
Update On the Payments to the National School Nutrition Programme Service Providers pic.twitter.com/ehiUNW7Nwl
— KZN Education (@DBE_KZN) May 7, 2025
Mcwabe said that despite the department's promise that payments would be made by Friday, they were still concerned about the 22% of service providers whose payments had not been processed.
'This means 22% of learners in the province will still have to learn on an empty stomach. What a system, what a crime to humanity, we will not bow down until all payments are processed,' he said.
The department said the delay in payments was caused by technical issues with its newly upgraded financial system.
KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education HOD Nkosinathi Ngcobo said as of 24 April 2025, 78% of the payments were successfully processed.
Ngcobo added that subsequent attempts to finalise the remaining payments on 25 April and 2 May were unsuccessful due to technical difficulties linked to the implementation of a new financial system, BAS Version 6, which is an upgrade from the previous BAS Version 5.
He said the National Treasury's IT team was currently working around the clock to resolve the system failures.
Ngcobo said the payment run that was scheduled to take place on Tuesday was successful for the remaining 22% of unpaid service providers and that they would receive their payments on 9 May.
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He added that the department had full records of all unpaid service providers.
Ngcobo said these lists had been shared with district offices to ensure that affected service providers were kept informed and that no further disruptions should occur in the provision of meals to pupils.
'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,' he said.
'The problem has nothing to do with the financial difficulties of the department, for the NSNP is paid from the grant allocation.'
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli said they were aware that the Department of Education had confirmed that payments would be made on Friday.
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