School nutrition row may head to court

THE Kwazulu-natal Department of Education and Pacina Retail could be heading to court soon with the retail company claiming the department had issued a new contract before its contract had been terminated.

The multimillion-rand National School Nutrition Programme collapsed in Kwazulu-natal, leaving thousands of children who depend on the programme not receiving food for weeks.

The three-year contract, which the Daily News has seen, was drafted earlier this month and was ready for signing by the service providers that were collecting food items from Pacina Retail’s warehouses. The department’s move could have financial implications since the retail company insists that its contract is still in force.

Pacina spokesperson Thobani Zikalala told the paper yesterday that he did not want to discuss the new contract because his company still had a contract with the department. He said his company’s legal team was in discussions with the department’s lawyers to find an amicable solution, so he was not aware that the department had moved on and issued a new contract.

“We know nothing about a new contract. All we know is that our legal teams are still engaging and no agreement has been reached, so we do not understand how the department would issue a new contract while it still has an active contract with us,” said Zikalala.

Kwazulu-natal Business Forum secretary Xolani Shange said they had been informed about the new contract and his members had been called to sign it. However, he said they were going to hold a conference to discuss the new contract with members.

Shange said they did not know what had happened to Pacina’s contract, but some members had told him that department officials had said they were going to take Pacina to court since the negotiations had failed. “Even if there are issues I will urge members to sign a new contract because we do not want to find ourselves in the same situation where kids go hungry,” said Shange.

The paper also learned that there were schools in the province where pupils were still not eating. Shange said those schools were being serviced by contractors who did not have funding since Ithala Bank refused to give them loans without a written contract.

Last week the paper reported that while the legal tug-of-war over the termination of the school feeding scheme contract between the retail company and department continued, food items were going rotten at the retail company’s warehouses, which would be paid for by taxpayers should the department lose its case.

The company had said it stocked the items, which were to last until June, adding that the termination of the contract was still the subject of discussion between the company’s lawyers and the department. The company said it was still ready to fulfil its contractual obligation to feed 2.4 million poor children in the province. Relying on an email sent by Pacina director Manzini Zungu on April 26 in which he said he was opting out of the contract provided the department met certain conditions, the department cancelled the contract on the same day.

The KZN Department of Education had not commented at the time of publication.