Latest news with #SiphoHlomuka
eNCA
30-05-2025
- General
- eNCA
KZN school food providers still not paid
DURBAN - The KwaZulu-Natal education department says it's working around the clock trying to fix problems that prevented some school food suppliers not being paid. The delay has serious repercussions for the school's feeding scheme, with thousands of pupils possibly going hungry. READ: School Nutrition Programme | Suppliers in KZN have not been paid since June KZN education MEC, Sipho Hlomuka discussed some of the issues affecting the nutrition programme in the province.
The Citizen
24-05-2025
- The Citizen
Department says allegations against principal were investigated
The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Education (DoE) has said that two independent investigations surrounding allegations involving the Westville Senior Primary School principal were conducted. The DoE addressed the issue after some angry parents gathered outside the school on Friday morning in protest, demanding answers after the principal resumed his duties following a suspension. In a statement issued on Saturday (24 May), the DoE said it sought to clarify misconceptions that it had not taken any action after concerns were raised by the Educators' Support Group (ESGP) and submissions were made by the school's educators. 'These processes were undertaken in accordance with departmental procedures to ensure fairness and objectivity,' reads the DoE's statement. The DoE clarified that the principal had been placed under precautionary suspension as part of protocol while the investigations were underway and that, after the completion of the review process, the principal returned to work. Also read: Watch: Westville parents protest against principal 'The department remains committed to upholding due process while ensuring that every concern raised is treated with respect to the rule of law and the seriousness it deserves,' reads the DoE's statement. In the statement, KZN MEC for Education, Sipho Hlomuka, assured parents that the department takes all allegations seriously, in particular those that affect the well-being of learners and educators. 'The department is committed to addressing every matter thoroughly, without fear or favour. We encourage anyone with further credible information to come forward. Our responsibility is to ensure that every school operates in an environment of safety, accountability, and integrity,' said Hlomuka. The department said it will continue to monitor the situation at the primary school and remains open to re-evaluating the matter should new developments arise. For more from the Highway Mail, follow us on Facebook , X and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok. Click to subscribe to our newsletter here At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
IOL News
23-05-2025
- IOL News
Suspect arrested for alleged rape of Bizimali High School students
MEC Sipho Hlomuka addresses rape allegations at Bizimali High School. Image: Independent Newspapers Archives The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Education Sipho Hlomuka has announced that a suspect has been arrested for the alleged rape of students from Bizimali High School in Nkandla. Speaking at the school on Friday, Hlomuka said the alleged perpetrator was denied bail. "We want to fight the scourge of learners being raped and we wish to assert that despite everything, the school is still performing well," Hlomuka said. He went on to express his gratitude to principals and teachers in the province who have to deal with such traumatic situations while continuing to provide learners with substantial and quality education. "We are here to encourage and motivate them. We are here to say that we are happy that the culprit has been arrested and we are going to work with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to ensure that the rape suspect does not continue to be part of society. "He must deal with his challenges, and we want all the law enforcement agencies to work together to deal with the issue." The high school reportedly has an extra lesson programme where learners attend classes after normal school hours. The MEC clarified that this arrangement is not unique to the school but is part of a wider initiative in KZN. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ "Some educators are teaching learners during the weekends, others on the afternoon, but they must have security safety plans for our learners so that we will never again hear that a learner was raped," he added. He appealed to apprehensive parents of pupils in the institution to give it another chance and said that the incidents happened outside the school. "Education is a societal matter. It's not only for those under education but the community also has a role to play in protecting schools." IOL News Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
TimesLIVE
07-05-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
KZN education and health departments struggle with supplier payments as financial challenges mount
The KwaZulu-Natal Treasury says the provincial government will have to do 'business unusual' if it is to navigate its ongoing financial crisis. This comes as most of the departments, includingthe frontline departments of health and education, are falling behind in their financial commitments to service providers. This week, unpaid service providers staged sit-ins in the provincial offices of both departments in Pietermaritzburg as they sought answers. The provincial executive council met on Wednesday to discuss these and other governance and service delivery challenges. The education department confirmed that it owed 22% of its suppliers payments for the National Schools Nutrition Programme for March and April, while the health department owes R1.7bn to its service providers. Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka confirmed that the failure to make payments on time was mainly due to technical difficulties linked to the new financial system, a migration from BAS version 5 to BAS Version 6. That has since been resolved, and the department said it made the payment to the affected suppliers on Tuesday, which will reflect on Friday. However, he added that some of the suppliers were at fault for the payment delays through noncompliance with the submission standards. 'So far, we have paid all service providers that have complied with contracts in terms of submitting invoices with the supporting documents... We are certain that before May 10, as we're working with [National] Treasury, all the outstanding service providers that have submitted proper invoices will be paid.' Some of the invoices were submitted without signatures from the schools, which is required as proof that the correct items were submitted. As a result, there are service providers who have not been paid for October and November, but the department is working with them to resolve that, Hlomuka said. Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane said the upgrade to the new payment system was a factor but admitted that their challenges centre mainly around the financial limitations, which meant they couldn't pay all the service providers on time in this financial year. She said they indicated as far back as November 2024 to both the provincial cabinet and the portfolio committee that they would not be able to pay all the service providers on time in this financial year because of the financial challenges facing the department. She said they presented a plan to negotiate with the bigger suppliers whose invoices exceed R500,000 a month to spread their payments over 60 days, instead of paying within 30 days 'Spreading the payment over 60 days doesn't mean you write off the debt, it means at some point you will have to pay that amount, and that point was April 1 when we were expecting our full allocation to come in.' 'As soon as we were able to get the allocation in April we started the process of paying the service providers, but we were not able to pay in the manner that we should have for the last three weeks because of challenges with BAS.' Finance MEC Francois Rodgers said the frontline departments have been the worst affected by budget cuts, which is why he tried to focus on them in his budget allocation. The new administration inherited budget cuts of R70bn over four years, which is almost 50% of their current allocation of R158bn. With economic growth projected at just over 1%, Rodgers said it will take a long time to reverse the situation if they don't change their approach to budgeting and spending. 'It's reprioritisation: while we're getting through this economic crises, we have to do business unusual when it comes to finance... We have to change (and) that is what we're going to do in 2026/27; our frontline departments must be our priority and then we have to look at the balance of the funding for the province,' he said. 'We've been given permission by National Treasury for a procurement system which is going to align the supply chain with BAS and payments and departments will no longer be able to procure if they don't have the cash to back it, which is also going to address some of the challenges that we have.' Premier Thami Ntuli said they have always been transparent with their financial limitations, and what is happening now is what their analysis and projections warned about, which they have communicated to the public.
