Service providers storm KZN Health and Education departments

TWO KwaZulu-Natal departments are struggling to pay their service providers, which has led to the latter storming their offices to demand their overdue payments.

The KZN departments of Health and Education were on Monday confronted by unpaid service providers who demanded their payments and gave the departments ultimatums.

Companies that are service providers for the South African National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), popularly known as the school feeding scheme, said they have no idea how they will manage to survive after months of being unpaid by the Education Department.

The service providers allege the department has been making empty promises for some time.

Some said they are still waiting for payment for delivery of food from last year. The NSNP serves more than 2 million pupils across the province in 5400.

A representative of the school feeding scheme service providers in KZN, Thabang Mncwabe, said service providers are going through a difficult time.

"There are service providers who have not been paid since last year. Some are paid insufficient amounts. We don't know who takes the rest and where they take it because the national Department of Education pays out the full amount," said Mncwabe.

"We had been relying on Ithala; since it's now closed, we're now at the mercy of loan sharks. Even they are tired of us because we fail to pay them. We keep looking over our shoulders because we owe loan sharks."

The Department of Education promised to pay them on Thursday. In a statement the department said 78% of the service providers were paid in April and said the rest weren't paid because of glitches with the implementation of a new financial system.

The head of the department, Nkosinathi Ngcobo, apologised to the service providers who were not paid.

Today, the department issued a new statement.

"As of 24 April 2025, 78% of the payments were successfully processed. Subsequent attempts to finalise the remaining payments on 25 April and 2 May were unsuccessful due to technical difficulties linked to the implementation of a new financial system, BAS Version 6, which is an upgrade from the previous BAS Version 5. The National Treasury’s IT team is currently working around the clock to resolve the system failures.

"The payment run that was scheduled to take place yesterday, 06 May 2025, was successful for the remaining 22% of unpaid service providers, and they will receive their payments on 09 May 2025. The department has full records of all unpaid service providers. These lists have been shared with district offices to ensure that affected service providers are kept informed and that no further disruptions occur in the provision of meals to learners.

"We acknowledge the concerns raised by our valued service providers and wish to assure them that the department is doing everything possible to resolve the technical glitches affecting payment processes. The problem has nothing to do with the financial difficulties of the department, for the NSNP is paid from the grant allocation.

"We remain committed to transparency, timeous communication, and the uninterrupted provision of meals to our learners across the Province of KwaZulu-Natal. As a department, we would like to thank all stakeholders for their patience and cooperation as we work to stabilise the system and maintain the integrity of the National School Nutrition Programme,” said Ngcobo.

Members of the KZN Black Small Business Association closed the Pietermaritzburg offices of the Department of Health.

Zethembe Ngcongo from the 245-member association said they have not been paid by the Health Department for a long time.

He claimed the department was quick in paying big companies and neglecting small businesses.

"We end up using loan sharks because when you get work from the department, I am forced to take out a loan. The interest is 40%. If the department delays payment, it takes you longer to pay off the loan, and the interest rises and ends up being more than the money the department owes me. You end up with debt," said Ngcongo.

SUNDAY TRIBUNE