Durban - The businessman who was awarded a R2 billion school nutrition contract has blamed greedy business forums and politicians for his failure to deliver food to schools across KwaZulu-Natal.
Thousands of schools had not been receiving their food supplies since the reopening of schools last week, with some having to cut short teaching and learning time.
Manzini Zungu, the owner of Pasina Pty (Ltd) the company, awarded the contract late last year, claimed certain business forums were recruited by politicians to fight against him.
“Tenders always come with challenges at the political level. Means to distribute were sabotaged by groups of people stopping our drivers from reaching their destinations on time.
“However, this has been resolved and we have taken precautionary measures to ensure that such is prevented from happening again. We have consulted various stakeholders in ensuring that food is available in each and every school.”
Zungu said this had been a difficult period in his business as he never anticipated there would be violent political interference in the supply chain.
He said the delays had compromised his business and caused uncertainties as people lost trust in his service delivery. Zungu said the most challenging region was the Zululand District, in the northern part of the province.
“It became almost difficult to work and they were continuously blocking vehicles transporting food. However, some community members have taken it upon themselves to collect the food, as it became evident that some groups of people were determined to make this project fail,” he said.
Zungu said schools had received their supplies and Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube also addressed the matter to ensure the distribution ran smoothly. His company’s main distribution centre is located in Mobeni, Durban.
Zungu added he was not the sole benefactor of the contract, but was working with other businesses for distribution.
Zungu said he was responsible for supplying food to at least 5 400 schools and worked with 1 765 subcontractors.
“We always had the food but the collection part of it was a challenge. Other subcontractors we work with collected the food but some communities in volatile areas stopped the trucks from boarding. We constantly got threatened,” he added.
Muzi Mahlambi, spokesperson for the KZN Department of Education said the management had engaged with the affected districts to find solutions. Mahlambi would not provide further details, adding the MEC had committed to resolving the matter.
Various business people who have been benefiting from the programme criticised the department for its new approach in awarding the tender.
Lindokuhle Matiwane, chairperson of the KZN Nutrition Business Forum said the Department of Education had limited their ability to get their job done on time. “We have sent numerous emails with hopes that they get attended to, which had our complaints, and the emails were not answered.
“When we went to these venues we would find Department of Education officials, not the main supplier so there has been no interaction with him before,’’ he said.
The Federation of Associations of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas) chairperson, Dr Jaco Deacon said: “This sends out a message that we do not care about our children. We ask the MEC to ensure that the responsible officials are disciplined and that competent people are put in place.”
SUNDAY TRIBUNE