<\/p>\n
Durban \u2013 The state-owned bank Ithala has turned down funding requests from many of the desperate service providers contracted to the jinxed R2.1 billion KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education schools\u2019 nutrition programme.<\/p>\n
The bank told that the documentation provided by the applicants shows that they \u201cdo not meet the threshold of bankability\u201d and it has an obligation to lend money where it is certain it will recoup it.<\/p>\n
\nNEWS: Ithala, the state-owned bank operating in KwaZulu-Natal has turned down funding requests from many of the service providers contracted to the jinxed R2.1 billion KwaZulu-Natal schools nutrition programme.<\/p>\n
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) June 7, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Service Level Agreements (SLAs) signed with the KZN Department of Education are the ones that caused this uncertainty after it was stipulated that the contracts are \u201cstop-gap\u201d measures and could be terminated any time before May 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Service Level Agreement is a stopgap measure to mitigate the unexpected collapse of the Private Label Programme and to protect the rights of learners by ensuring that food items are procured, supplied and delivered to all schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means this contract may be terminated any time before March 2026 depending on the outcome of the legal processes etc,\u201d reads the part of the SLA that allegedly triggered the uncertainty.<\/p>\n
Some service providers indicated that with timely payments from the department, they are unable to carry the load.<\/p>\n
\nNEWS: The R2.1 billion KwaZulu-Natal schools nutrition programme continues to face numerous challenges. In this internal memo, the Department of Education says it has learnt that some schools are threatening not to cook if they don't receive their full foodstock for June. @<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/r3QfFyjbCS<\/a><\/p>\n
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) June 4, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This has caused uncertainty that the programme may collapse any time from now if the service providers are not funded.<\/p>\n
approached Ithala Bank after it was swamped by calls from concerned service providers that the bank was not funding them, citing some challenges with the documentation they have provided.<\/p>\n
Some service providers alleged that they have not been paid for the month of April; even though the department had promised them that all processes for that payment would be done by 26 May 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cIthala is not financing us and on the other side, we are not getting paid by the department on time.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of us have to rely on loan sharks to keep on delivering and that is not sustainable at all,\u201d one service provider told , threatening to quit.<\/p>\n
\nNEWS: Claims by the ANC-led KZN provincial government that all schools have food and that all teething problems with the schools' nutrition programme have been resolved have been proven wrong. One can now reveal that some schools in Mtubatuba have no food and parents are pic.twitter.com\/dcFBeOvHlF<\/a><\/p>\n