By failing to spend money allocated for infrastructure maintenance, the Mpumalanga Department of Education is to blame for the ceiling that collapsed on top of learners at Dumelani Primary School near Kwa-Mhlanga.
In an incident that happened in the past week and circulated on social media, learners could be seen crying and running around after a ceiling fell on them in their class. This is an appalling incident, especially considering that the Mpumalanga Department of Education returned millions of rands to the National Treasury after they failed to spend it on infrastructure maintenance amongst others.
In a recent government gazette, the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, mentioned that both the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga Departments of Education will forfeit R411 million of their 2022/2023 schools’ infrastructure budgets because they have failed to spend it. He mentioned that the Eastern Cape will forfeit R100 million while Mpumalanga will forfeit R311 million. Gondongwana also mentioned that the money will be redirected to both the Western Cape and Gauteng Departments of Education.
The Department must be ashamed of themselves for the fact that they forfeited R311 million to provinces like the Western Cape while schools in Mpumalanga are falling apart.
The infrastructure at schools like Sidlamafa High School in Nkomazi is old with some classrooms having cracks. Two years ago, the Hon. MEC Majuba promised them that the old building would be demolished. But the old and cracked building is still standing, and learners are now using it as a smoking area and engage in other unwanted activities.
The Department provides schools like Sidlamafa with temporary zozo classrooms that are sweltering hot, with dysfunctional air conditioners and as such, educators are compelled to teach standing at the door. This, while the department fails to spend R311 meant for infrastructure maintenance and development. MEC Majuba and his department must hang their heads in shame and stop defending the indefensible.
The DA will go and do its own oversight at Dumelani Primary School to assess the damage caused.
The DA will also write to the MEC and the department asking them to send a delegation to the school to help council the learners that were affected in this incident as well as to assess the damage.