An assessment of recruitment practices for food handlers into the National Schools Nutrition Programme (NSNP): A case of the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE), Johannesburg North District
Matjhupe Tshidiso Muroa · Sandiso Mahlala · Pertunia Ramulai
International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy · 2026 · Vol. 8 / Issue 1 · 58-69
Publication metrics
External links open provider records or DOI searches. Provider counts are not combined. Mendeley readership measures saves, not citations.
Dimensions
Live provider badge. If unavailable, use the Dimensions link above.
Observed 21 Oct 2026, 00:14 UTC
Observed 21 Oct 2026 00:14 UTC
OpenAlex and Mendeley observations refresh on article visits, at most once per 24 hours. Unavailable data is not zero. Google Scholar opens a DOI search.
Citations received by this article, grouped by the year of the citing work. Crossref and OpenAlex lifetime totals remain separate in Publication metrics.
2017–2026 Annual history last updated:
Citations received
OpenAlex · year of the citing work
Hover over a year or focus the chart and use arrow keys to inspect values.
2017–2026 annual-history window. 2026 is year to date. Unknown years have gaps.
View data & coverage
2026 is incomplete. Within a successfully fetched ten-year window, omitted years mean zero. Years beyond a saved observation’s window remain unknown (—). Older citations are excluded, so this chart’s sum may differ from the OpenAlex lifetime total. The date above belongs to this annual history; an unsuccessful refresh keeps the previous observation.
Abstract
The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) is one of the food security programmes of the South African government that strives to provide proper nutrition meals to all public primary and secondary school learners nationwide. To implement the programme, NSNP hires food handlers to prepare and deliver meals to students on a daily basis. However, in terms of public sector human resource management, it is unclear how these food handlers are recruited and hired into the programme. This paper aimed at assessing the recruitment practices of food handlers into the NSNP. The paper employed qualitative research methodology using semi-structured interviews and documentary review as two data collection methods. Moreover, the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) Johannesburg North District was chosen as a case study for the research strategy. The study reviewed pertinent literature, conducted semi-structured interviews to collect data. The data was analysed using thematic content analysis in order to qualitatively examine the data gathered. The paper's findings demonstrated that the GDE has a plan in place to oversee the NSNP's food handler recruitment practices, and that plan is spelt out in detail in their advising memorandum on the subject. Nevertheless, the study found that the approach does not align with the principles and practices of Public Human Resource Management (PHRM). According to the findings, the NSNP lacks a defined recruitment policy that would govern its hiring practices. It was found that there are challenges in the recruitment process. Finally, this paper offered recommendations for improved recruitment practices for food handlers.
Keywords: {'name': 'Food handlers, Recruitment, Human Resource Management (HRM), Gauteng Department of Education (GDE), National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP)'}
Authors & affiliations
Matjhupe Tshidiso Muroa
University of Zululand
Sandiso Mahlala
Durban University of Technology
Pertunia Ramulai
North-West University
Deposited references
Supplied references, not a list of publications citing this article.
No reference list supplied.