RESOURCES
Applicants’ Heads of Arguments
Submissions of the Amicus Curiae
Respondents’ Heads of Argument
Judgment (17 July 2020)
Resources: School Meals Monitoring, Equalizer Surveys & Letters to DBE and Provincial Education Departments
Published media statements
27 May 2020- The Department of Basic Education commits to ensuring the National School Nutrition Programme reaches all learner beneficiaries from 1 June
3 June 2020- SECTION27, Equal Education & Equal Education demand reinstatement of Nutrition of all learners, will consider litigation
12 June 2020- Education activists and schools take the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and provincial education departments to court over backtracking on National School Nutrition Programme
26 June 2020- School meals court case to be heard this Thursday 2 July, as education departments shamefully fail to honour latest promise
17 July 2020- Victory for Equal Education, Limpopo school governing bodies and over nine million learners as court rules that government’s National School Nutrition Programme must immediately resume for all learners!
20 July 2020- Education rights organisations and school communities to now monitor government’s compliance with the school meals court judgment
5 August 2020- Education MECs file school nutrition programme rollout plans that are full of holes, as we write to Minister Motshekga to fix hers
19 August 2020- Joint statement: Some improvements in food distribution but latest National School Nutrition report still lacks critical details and fails to fix obstacles to collecting of meals and parcels
7 October 2020- Survey of Equalisers shows that most learners who are only in classrooms on certain days are not getting food for when they are at home, as DBE reports show that nearly two million learners are still not receiving school meals
On 12 June 2020 Equal Education (EE) and the school governing bodies (SGBs) of two Limpopo schools launched an urgent court application against the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and provincial education departments.
EE and the SGBs are challenging the failure to roll-out the National Schools Nutrition Programme (NSNP) to all learners under the national state of disaster. The NSNP normally provides meals to over nine million learners every day, but was halted when schools closed on 18 March, jeopardising the food security of these learners and exacerbating the severe hardship experienced within their households.
EE and the SGBs, represented by the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) and SECTION27, argue that the failure of the DBE and provincial education departments to roll out the NSNP to all qualifying learners is a regressive measure that violates learners’ rights to basic nutrition, basic education and equality.
Current Status: Acting Deputy Judge President of the North Gauteng High Court, Judge Sulet Potterill delivered judgement on 17 July 2020
Equal Education, SECTION27 & Equal Education Law Centre are actively monitoring the implementation of the plans developed by the DBE and provinces.
3 November 2020 – Equaliser surveys continue to show that there are still problems with getting food to learners who are at home on some days, but DBE promises school meals to learners who are at home if there is a second wave of COVID-19 infections
27 January 2021: Minister Motshekga, don’t let child hunger continue! Honour the spirit of the court judgment and provide meals to learners from today!
