School projects in limbo

CRISIS: NON-PAYMENT FORCES CONTRACTORS TO DUMP OVER 50 SITES

Without security around building sites, they are stripped of valuable materials and vandalised.

Contractors have abandoned more than 50 major school upgrade projects in the Eastern Cape after government departments failed to pay them on time.

Many of these schools have been stripped of valuable materials and vandalised after being abandoned.

One example is Makhanda’s Grahamstown Primary School. The school moved into temporary prefabricated premises in February to make way for a R55 million upgrade. The revamp, originally due for completion in 2021, was to have included an administration block, a new library, an IT centre and a school hall, according to the school’s principal, Leon Coetzee.

In June, the contractors left abruptly, telling Coetzee that they had not been paid by the provincial department of public works, the implementing agent for the project.

“Much later, after the contractor left, the (provincial education) department came and told us that the project had been stopped until further notice,” said Coetzee.

According to the provincial public works spokesperson, Mlimandlela Ndamase, the provincial education department “over-committed for the financial year”, hence the delays in the execution of projects and payments to contractors.

Without any security around the abandoned building site, it was quickly stripped of all valuable materials and vandalised. The windows were shattered, ceilings stripped, electrical wiring ripped, and walls smashed.

Provincial education department spokesperson Mali Mtima said the department held no responsibility for the vandalisation of the school because it is “the contractor who is responsible for their site’s security”.

The contractors did not respond to requests for comment.

After three months of pressure by the school, the department of public works sent security personnel to guard the building site.

With the project on hold until further notice, the school governing board is concerned about the school’s future. The prefabricated premises were supposed to be temporary, and are already showing signs of degradation. Coetzee said that the “floors are busy giving” and there are leakages in some of the classrooms.

The current crisis is not due to a lack of funds, but rather due to a breakdown in implementing agents paying contractors, according to Mtima. He said that some implementing agents take on more contractors than they can afford, which leads to non-payment, as they have to go through the education department to get more funding. Another reason for non-payment, is when implementing agents submit their claims for funds late, said Mtima.

He confirmed that “52 projects affected” in the province. Mtima said that R260 million was paid to implementing agents last month to get contractors back on site, after a “cash injection from the national department”.

In the Eastern Cape, the provincial and national education departments and treasuries have failed to adequately monitor the delivery of school infrastructure. This is because they are “understaffed and do not have sufficient programme managers” to oversee the agents, according to provincial Department of Education, said Equal Education researcher Marc Jacobs.

This lack of accountability leads to wasteful expenditure, and mismanagement of infrastructure sites, like that of Grahamstown Primary, he added.

Ndamase said that the department of public works had “provided technical solutions to ease the current pressure” such as providing security for abandoned building sites. – Republished from groundup.org.za

Department ‘over-committed for the financial year’