Multipurpose: McDonald’s and MiDesk donated branded school desks to St Paul’s Primary School (above) in Bo-Kaap, Cape Town, late last month. More desks were given to a school in North West. Photo: X
The recent handover of McDonald’s-branded “desks on wheels” to grade one pupils at a primary school in Cape Town uses the bodies of children as “unpaid walking billboards” for the junk food market.
This is how a group of 21 civil society organisations committed to food justice, children’s health and education rights have described the donation of the McDonald’s-sponsored MiDesks to learners at St Paul’s Primary School in the Bo-Kaap.
The donation was facilitated by Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube on 24 February.
MiDesk is a wheelie schoolbag that converts into a desk and a chair and is equipped with a solar light and USB charging portal. Its innovative design enables children to wheel their bags, chairs and desks to school and back home. The unit weighs 6.4kg, unpacked.
According to the civil society groups, which include the Institute for Economic Justice, Healthy Living Alliance (Heala), Equal Education and the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town, the handover follows similar corporate-branded desk donations from Old Mutual and the Hollywood Foundation.
“We are concerned about this disturbing trend, which must end now,” they said in a joint statement, noting that the McDonald’s donation should not be seen as charity. “It is junk food marketing targeting vulnerable children.”
South Africa faces a malnutrition, obesity and a non-communicable disease epidemic.
Allowing fast food branding into schools “is grossly irresponsible and negligent”, said the activists. By “slapping its logo on the MiDesk”, McDonald’s ensures its “brand is paraded through communities, at no cost, while profiting from the very eating habits that harm children’s health”.
Foods high in sugar, salt and fat and low in nutrients are helping to fuel the obesity epidemic, with nearly one in every four children under the age of five either overweight or obese.
Marketing campaigns “tap into children’s deepest desires and longing for love, family, friendship and belonging”, while relatively low prices make fast foods desirable amid widespread poverty and deepening inequality.
The organisations called on the minister to immediately withdraw support for the branded MiDesk donation; recall the branded desks; ensure that the provincial education department supplies desks to the school as per its mandate and “desist from any such partnerships with Big Food and the gambling industry in the future”.
The government must also strengthen regulations regarding corporate social investments to ensure they are ethical, transparent and not transactional.
Elijah Mhlanga, the spokesperson for the department of basic education, said: “The minister agrees that there may be a need to have a closer look at the policies governing CSI [corporate social investment] and corporate partnerships.”
This work must be undertaken in the best interests of the 13.5 million learners in the country’s schools, he said, adding, “it cannot be done to achieve … any other objectives not connected to the educational needs of learners”.
On the push for a recall, Mhlanga said it would be “unusually cruel” to confiscate donations from learners who are using them.
Dangers of austerity
The minister undertook a budget analysis of all provincial education departments last year.
“The hard reality is that the education sector has received below-inflation budget allocations for the past 10 years,” said Mhlanga.
“This means that the budget of the education sector is lower today than it was in 2014, at the same time the number of learners has increased during that period.”
With its current budget allocations, the education sector has a shortage of 2.4 million furniture items in schools.
“The current shortage of furniture is not a creation of the education department; it is a reality of the dire fiscal situation in this country,” he said.
The minister has called on the private sector to contribute their resources to plug the resource gap in the education sector and “she is encouraged by the enthusiasm shown by the private sector to this call”, said Mhlanga.
MiDesk Global had donated the desks with the assistance of McDonald’s.
“As part of their approach, MiDesk Global sources funding from corporate sponsors, who in return for their contribution are offered branding rights on the donations they make to each of the recipient schools,” he said.
The handover of the desks was not a marketing event.
“It was a public-private partnership [PPP] where the focus was and remains providing support for learners to improve educational outcomes in the country,” he said.
Another batch of similarly branded desks was handed over to a school in North West on Monday this week.
“The intention of such PPPs has never been to market or advertise any brand or product, rather to work collaboratively to find solutions to the perennial challenges of the shortage of desks in schools. Corporate sponsors have been generous enough to donate their resources to help the department deal with ongoing challenges,” said Mhlanga.
McDonald’s declined to comment.
For the civil society groups, McDonald’s donation illustrates the “dangers of austerity” and the consequent cuts to the education budget, which encourage corporate actors to encroach into spaces abandoned by the state.
Such corporate actors are “turning classrooms into advertising spaces” while distracting from the structural failures of the government to fulfil its constitutional duties.
“Corporate charity is not a substitute for government responsibility.”
Zukiswa Zimela, of Heala, said: “When we allow these corporations to kind of waltz in and plug these gaps that the government is supposed to be actually fulfilling, we make it difficult for them to become regulated.”
“One of the things we try to do is get branding out of schools for fast food and unhealthy foods, but parents will say, ‘We can’t afford certain things and these are the organisations that are funding us,’” said Zimela.
“This is a deliberate attempt, nevermind just the marketing and using the kids as the billboards, it’s an entrenchment in government spaces that make it very difficult then for the government, when they do say in good faith, [they] want to legislate or change things.”
‘Never had a complaint’
Farana Boodhram, the chief executive of MiDesk Global, said it has supplied more than 5 200 of its desks throughout South Africa and Namibia. “Our mission has always been to equip children with the essential tools they need for a quality education.
“We’ve proudly partnered with over 25 corporate organisations, which include seven corporate responsibility foundations, and this initiative has been made possible through collaboration with our partners.”
MiDesk, which is endorsed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation and the department of science and technology through its Technology Innovation Agency, can’t do its work alone.
“There are many kids without desks … Our focus remains on bridging those gaps in classroom infrastructure through these partnerships,” Boodhram said.
“Without these sponsors and partners … thousands of kids would be without desks in schools, which is a fundamental resource needed to succeed academically. It’s taken these partnerships that made that difference and it’s how we’ve been able to support children in need. Our commitment is unwavering; we stand for the children and their education.”
Boodhram said they had never received a complaint about MiDesk. “If anything, after every handover, we get requests for more desks from the same schools as well as other schools.”
Thabile Nyaba, the chief risk and sustainability officer at Old Mutual, said it was an “unfortunate reality” that some schools lack basic infrastructure such as desks and chairs to support a learning environment.
“This challenge is particularly acute for under-served households, which may lack similar facilities to enable a child to study after school or even complete their homework.
“To contribute to the mitigation of these challenges both in the classroom and in the home, we have partnered with MiDesk Global and over the last three years we have donated over 1 260 MiDesks to some of the most under-served communities in the country.”
Push and pull
MiDesk’s trolley-like wheels and handle, which allows for a child to easily pull and push it around on either paved or unpaved surfaces, allows the child to wheel the MiDesk to school and set up a learning environment “where they can read, write, and place their books”.
“Once at home, the child can continue to work on the MiDesk and make use of the solar-powered lamp to continue learning even after sunset, in areas that do not have access to electricity.”
Hollywood Group spokesperson Zandile Dlamini said there is no Hollywoodbets branding on any schoolchildren’s items. But, she said, MiDesk later donated 15 desks with the Hollywood Foundation logo as a once off initiative.
“We take responsible gambling and the wellbeing of our clients —especially those at risk, including children — extremely seriously.”
Giving back to communities “is a fundamental part” of the company, she said.
The company’s “partnership” with MiDesk began when it identified it as an “innovative” small business through its Bambelela Business Awards in November 2023.
“As part of the initiative, 20 candidates were selected to receive a share of R750 000 in funding, with MiDesk Global (Pty) Ltd being awarded R100 000 as the grand prize winner for the Gauteng region. This funding was provided to support their business growth,” she said.
MiDesk later donated 15 desks branded with the “Hollywood Foundation” logo as a once-off initiative. “This was an independent decision by the organisation and not an ongoing project that is run by the Hollywood Foundation or Hollywoodbets,” Dlamini said.