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‘Little to nothing’ done with R336m budgeted for ECD pilot nutrition programme since 2024

Daily Maverick · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · · 2043 words · By Tamsin Metelerkamp
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What to know about ‘Little to nothing’ done with R336m budgeted for ECD pilot nutrition programme since 2024

The Department of Basic Education’s ring-fenced budget for a pilot nutrition programme for early childhood development (ECD) centres appears to have gone largely unused over a two-year period, despite an urgent need for food-based support in the sector.

Claims checked 11
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center100%
Right0%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

The Department of Basic Education’s ring-fenced budget for a pilot nutrition programme for early childhood development (ECD) centres appears to have gone largely unused over a two-year period, despite an urgent need for food-based support in the sector.

Why it matters

The concerns around the implementation of the ECD nutrition pilot programme come at a time when the problem of hunger among young children is in the spotlight.

Common ground

At the South African Human Rights Commission’s national inquiry into South Africa’s food systems in March 2026, advocacy organisations made presentations about the urgent need for interventions aimed at addressing malnutrition and stunting in the early years.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-03-19-children-go-hungry-while-r336…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

help Insufficient Evidence 6
check_circle Corroborated 2
schedule Pending 1
info Single Source 1
verified Verified By Reference 1
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Claim 1: “The existing ECD subsidy for registered centres was increased to R24 per child per day in 2025/26, with 40% of this amount earmarked for nutrition”
CORROBORATED
Two sources explicitly state the subsidy increase to R24 per child per day with 40% allocated for nutrition. The third source confirms the subsidy increase from R17 to R24.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In his most recent budget speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that R10 billion wouldbeallocatedto early childhood development (ECD) over the medium term, with theper-childsubsidysetto …
https://iol.co.za/news/south-africa/2025-11-11-the-first-fiv…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Only a minority ofECDcentresin the country receivesubsidiesfrom the government. R17 can barely get you a loaf of bread, but thisiswhat our government paysECDcentresperchildperday. It’s getting harder …
https://groundup.org.za/article/we-cannot-afford-to-scrap-r1…
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web search NEUTRAL — Increasing thesubsidyvalue from R17 toR24perchildperdayatcentre-based programmes will support increased investments in staff, nutritional provision, equipment and essential infrastructure byECDprogram…
https://thebulrushes.com/2025/05/23/budget-3-0-r10-billion-h…
schedule
Claim 2: “Mantjé noted that a successful model for an ECD pilot nutrition programme could draw lessons from the National Schools Nutrition Programme, but could not be a 'one-size-fits-all' solution”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 3: “The Department of Basic Education’s ring-fenced budget for a pilot nutrition programme for early childhood development (ECD) centres appears to have gone largely unused over a two-year period”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence includes unrelated content and no direct confirmation of the ECD nutrition pilot budget being unused. The third web search result mentions agricultural credit unutilization but does not specify ECD program funds.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Bodycam footage captures the callous behavior of an Illinois woman who laughed and played dumb after killingtwopeople in a deadly DUI crash on April 10, 20...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMHaHwcAPaw
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web search NEUTRAL — TheDBEallocated 14 billion birr in credit thatyear, with only 37 percent of the total being put to use.Twopercent of the total was credit provided to agro-processing industries.Overthe sameperiod, com…
https://www.thereporterethiopia.com/37462/
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web search NEUTRAL — The Zero2FiveNutrition& WASHprogrammehas reachedover4500 children at unfundedECDCentres in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
https://different.org/projects/zero2five-trust/ecd-nutrition…
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Claim 4: “Funding for the pilot programme was first set aside in the 2024/25 budget, standing at R197-million. This was increased to R336-million in 2025/26, with the most recent allocation in the 2026/27 budget going up to R772-million”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm the R197-million allocation for 2024/25 and R336-million for 2025/26. The third source corroborates the increasing trend in ECD funding.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Early Childhood Development has been allocated R150millionfor Resource package for2024/25financial year. Early Childhood DevelopmentNutritionpilothas been allocatedR197millionfor Resource packages for…
https://www.gov.za/news/speeches/minister-siviwe-gwarube-bas…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Theallocation of R157millionin2024/25rising to R161millionin2025/26is welcome but much more needs to be done to ensure that provincial education departments are capacitated to provide the ...
https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/2024-budget-disappoints…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Funding early childhood development remains a challenge, but there's hope now that Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, has increased theECDallocation. This is the largest single increase inECDfunding …
https://omny.fm/shows/power-podcasts/budget-2025-ecd-funding
help
Claim 5: “In August 2024, the Real Reform for ECD movement flagged an effort by the DBE to subsume the funds for the pilot nutrition programme under a ten-year, R10-billion-a-year National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) 'modernisation' tender”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No relevant evidence found in web search results or cross-references.
help
Claim 6: “Concerns around the unused funds for the pilot programme are not new. In October 2025, the Union Against Hunger released a statement questioning the absence of an implementation plan”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search results or cross-references.
help
Claim 7: “In February 2026, President Cyril Ramaphosa committed to ending stunting by 2030 in his State of the Nation Address”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search results or cross-references.
help
Claim 8: “Daily Maverick reached out to the Department of Basic Education with questions around the implementation of its pilot nutrition programme but did not receive a response”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search results or cross-references.
help
Claim 9: “The plan to merge the ECD pilot programme with the NSNP tender ultimately fell by the wayside”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search results or cross-references.
verified
Claim 10: “Data from 2022/23 showed that only 40% of centres in South Africa were registered, and of that 40%, only 33% were reported to be receiving the subsidy”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia entries provide general education information but do not mention ECD center registration statistics or subsidy receipt rates.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Education in South Africa is governed by two national departments, namely the Department of Basic Education (DBE), which is responsible for primary and secondary schools, and the Department of Higher …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_South_Africa
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a gallery of the various international, national and subnational flags of Africa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_Africa
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Boer republic called the Orange Free State a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_State_(province)
help
Claim 11: “Ntuli’s ECD centres are conditionally registered, which means she has access to the early learning subsidy”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search results or cross-references.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.