MEC PLEASED WITH PROGRESS AT KZN’S CEDARA AGRI COLLEGE
Challenges that resulted in construction work being disrupted at Cedara Agricultural College have been addressed.
KZN Public Works MEC Sipho “KK” Nkosi, who visited the college last month as part of the department’s Siyahlola (We
Inspect) programme, said: “Today we can as a department give an undertaking that when students resume their studies at the beginning of next year, renovation work at the canteen would have been concluded.”
The bulk of the construction work took place in the student accommodation section.
Nkosi said the department was impressed with the manner in which the project was unfolding.
“We are confident that the entire project will be concluded by August next year,” he added.
The renovations, which started in 2021, were scheduled to be concluded during the first half of this year. Nkosi said the previous contractor had not been able to stick to the timelines.
“In the end, we agreed to part ways. We now have another contractor on site, and so far we are are happy with the work which the contractor is doing,” he added.
Owned by the KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the college, which equips young people with agricultural
skills, also has a research unit.
Problems at the college had put the KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, which is at the forefront of the provincial government’s programme to fight poverty and underdevelopment through agriculture, in a predicament.
KZN Agriculture and Rural Development MEC Super Zuma said the department was relieved that construction work at the college was back on track.
“As a department responsible for agricultural development in the province, it’s important for us to ensure that students at this college receive their education under the best of conditions.
“This is why as a department we gave money to the provincial Public Works Department so that it could carry out all the necessary renovations which needed to happen at the college,” he said.
Founded in 1905, the college currently has more than 100 students — some of whom are residing in temporary accommodation facilities organised by the KZN Agriculture and Rural Development.
Earlier this year, the students embarked on a protest over the squalid conditions that they were living under. At the time, construction work was moving at a snail’s pace, further compounding their frustrations.