Equal Education (EE) and the school governing bodies (SGBs) of two Limpopo schools on Friday launched an urgent court application against the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and provincial education departments to compel the departments to provide meals for pupils.
The organisations are challenging what they say is "the current failure to roll-out the National Schools Nutrition Programme (NSNP) to all learners".
Represented by the Equal Education Law Centre and Section27, the organisations have filed legal papers at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria which argue that the failure of the DBE and provincial education departments to roll-out the NSNP to all qualifying pupils is "a regressive measure that violates learners' rights to basic nutrition, basic education and equality".
"The current disaster does not serve as a basis to deprive learners of their right to nutrition, and the DBE's failure to direct provinces to roll-out the NSNP for all eligible learners disproportionally affects learners from poor and working-class families."
"We are also seeking a structural order requiring the national and provincial departments, within five days of the court order, to each provide a plan or programme to ensure that all qualifying learners receive their daily meal from the NSNP," the statement said.
