The delivery of quality education has been compromised at Thubelihle Secondary School in Soweto because the environment is not conducive to learning and teaching due to an incomplete and abandoned infrastructure project.
This school was allocated more than R9 million for the refurbishment of blocks of classrooms, ablution facilities, an administration block, a guard and caretaker house, and the replacement of roof coverings.
Shockingly, the service provider failed to deliver and abandoned the project. This has had a negative impact on quality teaching and learning.
To date, the department has paid more than R4 million but very little to show for it. The Gauteng Department of Infrastructure (DID) has proven once again that it cannot deliver much-needed school infrastructure in the province due to many abandoned school projects.
It is high time that the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) take control of its school infrastructure projects to ensure access to an adequate and conducive environment for all learners across the province.
Furthermore, all service providers who have failed to deliver within budget and on time must be blacklisted from doing business with the government.
This consequence management will prevent department officials from appointing their friends and politicians as service providers and save taxpayers money.
The DA will submit questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) to the department to determine when this project will resume and the stipulated time frame to conclude the refurbishments of this school.