Recent media reports that 4000 learners from Nkomazi Municipality have not been going to school for over a month because of infrastructure demonstrates that the Mpumalanga Department of Education is useless as it failed to spend the R311 million Infrastructure Grant which it eventually returned to Treasury.
It has been reported that the 4000 learners from the following schools: Driekoppies Combined, Bukhosibetfu Inclusive, Magubha primary, and Joseph Matsebula Secondary were stopped by their parents from attending school since July 18 in protest that the infrastructure from Magubha primary was dilapidated and a danger to the over 1000 learners in that school. This is gravely concerning taking into consideration that the Mpumalanga Department of Education has been recently flagged for returning R311 million to treasury which was meant for infrastructure.
According to 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 re-directed to both the Western Cape and Gauteng Departments of Education.
The department must immediately act and sort out this problem as this could have been prevented had they used the R311 million to fix these schools instead of returning it to the treasury.
This province cannot afford to have 4000 learners miss out on vital lessons while department officials play semantics. By failing to spend R311 million allocated for infrastructure maintenance, the Mpumalanga Department of Education must take the blame for the 4000 learners who are not going to school.
This department and its MEC Bonakele Majuba 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 DA is also pleased to learn that the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has decided to investigate this matter.