R830m funds to fix schools still not spent

AN UNSPENT R830 million over three years – that was supposed to ensure all public schools have access to water, electricity and decent sanitation – is an affront to children’s rights.

Advocacy group Equal Education said this after the Department of Basic Education failed to meet yesterday’s deadline that schools built with inappropriate material like asbestos should be eradicated, and that all schools have access to water, electricity and decent sanitation.

Only 217 of 510 schools, nationally, built with inappropriate material were fixed by September; and, by June, 171 had no water, 569 had no electricity, and 68 schools had no sanitation services. In this province, five out of 25 schools have not benefited from funds set aside for improvements.

Equal Education said 226 public schools in the province were excluded from any upgrades because they are situated on private land.

“The law gave her (Basic Education minister Angie Motshekga) and the MECs three years from then to ensure that all schools have access to water, electricity and sanitation, and that no school is built of wood, mud, asbestos or zinc. By Minister Motshekga’s own admission, she and all nine of her MECs have failed to do so.

“Aside from the schools in the Eastern Cape and the Free State without toilets or water, there are 29 Gauteng schools made entirely of asbestos that are still standing, and 226 Western Cape public schools excluded from any upgrades because they are situated on private land. Of those 226 Western Cape schools, 15 are partially or entirely made of asbestos.”

Department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga previously cited poor contractor performance for its failure to meet the deadline. He referred the Cape Times to an address Motshekga made in which she said the project was the first time that government had set itself targets for school infrastructure.