Limpopo - Limpopo Premier Stan Mathabatha’s suggestion to momentarily stop the province’s schools nutrition programme has been criticised by the DA, who cautioned it would be unlawful for him to do so without providing an alternative.
Mathabatha announced his intentions this week in reaction to the mounting scandal that saw more than 1 000 pupils being fed meals contaminated with pieces of glass.
On Tuesday, he visited Makeke Primary School, where 265 pupils were treated in hospital after complaining of stomach pains and vomiting. In total, there are 16 schools in the Sekhukhune district that have been hit by the food-contamination scandal in recent weeks.
Last week, more than 100 pupils at Kwena Chuene Primary School in the same district fell ill after eating food contaminated with glass.
Mathabatha urged pupils at Makeke to bring food from home in the meantime.
He said he was considering suspending the feeding scheme in all schools across the province, pending a thorough investigation.
“But that is still subject to confirmation, as you would know that this department is one of the departments under administration, so we cannot take the decision as the province.
“We still need to get concurrence from national government,” he pointed out.
But DA provincial leader and MPL Jacques Smalle has disagreed with Mathabatha’s proposal.
“What may seem like a heroic act by the premier is, in fact, illegal. It is a direct contravention of the division of revenue grant framework, gazette number 32480, dated June 24 , 2013,” Smalle said.
Provinces were mandated to provide all pupils in quintile 1 to 3 schools with nutritious meals at school, he added.
“For most of the 1.6 million learners affected, this was possibly their only meal for the day,” he emphasised.
On Wednesday, provincial government spokesman Phuti Seloba said internal investigations would determine if the case had to be reported to the police.
He rebuffed the DA’s suggestion that Mathabatha was grandstanding for proposing to stop the feeding scheme.
“The premier believes the well-being of our children is paramount. “This is not about politics,” Seloba said.
The Star