Learners and teachers at Rus-Ter-Vaal Secondary School in Vereeniging continue to be exposed to unhealthy hazardous conditions due to the Gauteng Department of Education’s failure to prioritise the eradication of asbestos infrastructure across the province.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) conducted an oversight inspection at the school today, and we were disappointed to discover that the construction of the newly built brick-and-mortar school is still incomplete. The contractor has abandoned the project that was supposed to be completed in February 2022.
See pictures of the abandoned school here and here.
This indicates that the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi has failed in his commitment to eradicate all asbestos schools in the province.
The 53-year-old school has 1132 learners and has been issued a non-compliance certificate by the Department of Labour due to asbestos infrastructure and overcrowding in classrooms
Further to the health risk, the asbestos infrastructure is on the edge of collapsing. See pictures here and here.
There are over 70 learners in some classrooms which affects the rendering of quality learning and teaching.
There has been no clear communication from the department or contractor as to why the construction has been abandoned but instead, there is a blame game going on. Each year since 2018 contractors have been switched and changed.
This has resulted in the project incurring more costs which is a waste of taxpayers’ money.
MEC Lesufi should account for delays in the completion of this school and consequence management should also be implemented for all the officials implicated in this project. We will also submit written questions to the MEC to ascertain when this newly built school will be completed and when mobile classrooms will be delivered to the school.
The DA reiterates its proposal for the Department of Education to take control of all its infrastructure projects from the Department of Infrastructure Development. This will ensure that all our schools are completed within the stipulated timelines and on budget. This will also ensure that all major maintenance of our schools is done timeously without inconveniencing learning and teaching.