By Asanda Magadla

The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces with a large majority of children who depend on the National School Food and Nutrition Program. Over 4 686 schools in the province rely on the program to eat.

In the 2025/2026 budget, the Department of Education has allocated over R1.9 billion. In 2023, the South African Human Rights Commission released a report revealing that 116 children died from severe acute malnutrition between April 2021 and March 2022.

In its findings, the SAHRC concluded that the government’s failure to ensure access to adequate food and nutrition directly contributes to preventable child deaths in the Eastern Cape.

For some learners, the school feeding scheme is one of the few ways to access a nutritious meal.

Malibongwe Mtima, spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Department of Education, said that poor infrastructure hampers food deliveries to schools across the province and makes it difficult to maintain health and hygiene standards.

“The department is noting challenges, including poor road infrastructure for food delivery and for maintaining consistent food safety and hygiene standards across all participating schools,” he said.

Dr Eileen Carter of the South African Human Rights Commission in the Eastern Cape said, “The Commission has therefore advocated improved monitoring, accountability, interdepartmental coordination, and the uninterrupted delivery of nutritional support to vulnerable children.”

Carter added that schools and authorities must promptly identify and address failures in meal delivery. Dr Eileen Carter also urged parents and School Governing Bodies to report any such failures to the school principal, the relevant district office, and the Department of Education.