By Celani Sikhakhane
The Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal is failing to provide food for hungry children.
Scrolla.Africa visited several schools in the Mtubatuba area on Wednesday and witnessed the hunger and pain experienced by communities and children.
The affected schools include Nkonyane Primary, Ngaqa Full Service Primary, Machibini High, and Mawombe High, which are located in deep rural areas where many communities rely on social grants.
The nutrition crisis, which has turned into a humanitarian emergency for over five million school children in KZN, is causing significant distress in the communities of Mtubatuba and Jozini in the far north of the province.
Parents of Nkonyane Primary School students have been instructed to contribute R20 twice a month for school groceries, as the school has not received any food for two months.
Velephi Mdletshe, the chairperson of the School Governing Body at Nkonyane Primary, explained that parents agreed in a meeting to make these contributions to purchase food for the children.
They were also informed that the possibility of receiving food from the department would only be in June or July.
Community members in Machibini revealed that children at Machibini High School, Mawombe High, and Ngaqa Full Service Primary do not receive enough food. Some children have even fainted due to hunger.
Distressed parents shared accounts of their children coming home crying, stating that they had not eaten because the food had run out before reaching them.
In desperate situations, cooks would bring food from their homes, such as knorrox and soup, to provide for the school kids. At Mawombe High, students were involved in cultivating a new garden to grow vegetables because of hunger and lack of food.
Furthermore, parents disclosed that children are being asked to bring firewood to school since there is no gas or water available for cooking.
The KZN government issued a statement last week claiming that all schools had received food and none were without nutrition.
Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi did not respond to questions sent via text and WhatsApp. Numerous attempts to reach him via phone were unsuccessful.
Pictured above: Machibini High where kids fainted because of hunger
Image source: Celani Sikhakhane
