Food safety red flag: Thousands of SA school kitchens don’t have required certificates

Across the country thousands of schools that are part of the National School Nutrition Programme are feeding children without mandatory certificates. This is one of many challenges, including subpar school kitchen infrastructure, faced by the programme.

Thousands of South African schools that are part of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) are feeding children without mandatory certification.

The NSNP offers two meals a day to about 9.9 million pupils at about 19,683 of South Africa’s poorest public, secondary and special schools, said Department of Basic Education (DBE) ministerial spokesperson Lukhanyo Vangqa in a written response to Daily Maverick .

To offer meals, school kitchens require a Certificate of Acceptability (CoA), mandatory legal documents which prove that food-preparation kitchens meet all public health, sanitation and hygiene standards required by law to safely handle or sell food, Vangqa explained.

But according to documents and information supplied by seven of South Africa’s provincial education departments, at least 8,504 schools that are part of the NSNP are operating without CoAs.

According to statements supplied by and written responses from seven of South African’s provincial education departments, in the country there are about:

Daily Maverick sent a list of questions about CoAs to KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi. Mahlambi who referred us to the DBE’s acting director of communication and research, Terence Khala.

Daily Maverick also sent a list of questions regarding CoAs to the Gauteng Department of Education. It did not respond to the questions, but spokesperson Onwabile Lubhelwana said: “The Gauteng Department of Education can confirm that we have since responded to the Public Protector accordingly.”

According to Vangqa schools might not have CoAs because their kitchen infrastructure could be in the process of being improved or still needs to be improved. For example, some schools cooked outside using traditional methods and three-legged iron pots over an open fire. He also said environmental health practitioners (EHPs) might not be available to issue CoAs to schools, or schools that have met the requirements do not receive their CoAs immediately.

“It is important to note that the absence of a CoA does not mean that a school has been found to be unsafe or noncompliant by the relevant health authorities,” said Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond.

At Limpopo schools the main barriers are infrastructure related at Limpopo schools, said Isaac Mahlangu, the media liaison officer for the province’s education department.