Quibbling goes on as food rots, kids go hungry

Schools meal supplier insists feeding contract is still in force, despite KZN Education having terminated it

WHILE the legal tug-of-war over the termination of the school feeding scheme contract between Pacina Retail and the Kwazulu-natal Department of Education continues, 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 Daily News has learnt that the company at the centre of the school feeding scheme bungle a few weeks ago started discarding rotten food after the department abruptly terminated its contract to supply 5 400 schools in KZN.

The retail company’s spokesperson, Thobani Zikalala, confirmed that the food items, especially perishable ones, were now rotting because of the department’s decision to take work from Pacina and give it to contractors who were initially contracted to collect it from the company’s warehouses.

Zikalala said the company 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. He reiterated that Pacina still maintained that its contract with the department existed, and that the company was ready to fulfil its contractual obligation to feed 2.4 million poor children in the province.

Despite the outcry over the failure to supply food to schools, the company maintains it never failed except for minor glitches in the infancy stages of the contract, which were immediately addressed. Zikalala refused to be drawn on the matter, but maintained Pacina’s contract with the department was still in force.

Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said the department’s lawyers were in discussion with Pacina’s, with the hope of finding an amicable solution soon.

Pacina’s position was also bolstered by the department’s acceptance of claims from the contractors for April deliveries, which the company said was confirmation that it had met its contractual obligation to supply food to schools.

The company also claimed that contractors continued to collect items from its warehouses until May 2, despite the department’s so-called cancellation of the contract on April 26.

On the other hand, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula was reported to have read the riot act to Education MEC Mbali Frazer, and told her the ANC was expecting action against officials who caused the bungle – and if she failed to do so, the party would deal with her.

Part of what Frazer was expected to explain to the ANC and to Basic Minister of Education Angie Motshekga was the process that led to the awarding of the contract to one company, as opposed to the usual process of awarding multiple contracts that benefited many Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises.

The department’s decision to halt Pacina’s contract may also burn Frazer’s fingers as a political head. The department appeared to have placed its reliance on an email sent by Pacina’s director, Manzini Zungu, on April 26, in which he said he was opting out of the contract provided the department met certain conditions, which he has yet to draft and send the conditions.