Due to a severe lack of desks and chairs, children at Tembisa's Mpumelelo Primary School are reportedly forced to learn while standing.
Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane had pledged to deliver 25 foundation phase chairs and 50 intermediate phase chairs between March 3 and March 7, 2025, during a DA oversight visit in March.
However, Khathutshelo Rasilingwane, DA spokesperson for infrastructure development, said that when they returned to the school in October, they found learners still crammed onto broken furniture and others standing throughout lessons, with no sign of the promised desks and chairs, exposing what the party called a breach of public trust.
“We found children crammed onto broken, unsafe furniture, with no evidence that the promised desks and chairs ever arrived. This is not bureaucratic incompetence; it is a breach of public trust. This is a direct violation of Section 29 of the Constitution, which guarantees every child the right to basic education in safe conditions conducive to learning and teaching.”
Rasilingwane added that during their initial oversight visit earlier this year, they found Mpumelelo Primary School in deplorable condition, with mobile classrooms riddled with holes, peeling paint, and broken desks and chairs.
She said many learners were forced to write on their laps or stand for the entire lesson.
Rasilingwane added that they were shocked by what they witnessed and subsequently submitted detailed questions to the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) and the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL), demanding urgent intervention.
GDE Chiloane responded in writing to the GPL, confirming that the school was one of 89 built using mobile units to address learner population growth. He acknowledged that the school faces challenges and requires assistance to replace the floors in 44 mobile classrooms.
A total of “44 mobile classrooms had worn-out floors that needed replacing, walls requiring internal and external painting, doors that needed to be replaced and painted, door locks to be fixed, glazing replaced in five mobile classrooms, and various electrical repairs.”
Chiloane also stated that the department plans to replace the school with brick-and-mortar facilities, following the required processes through the infrastructure and chief directorate, and noted that the school needs furniture.
“The audit was conducted at the school on October 18, 2024 and identified that the school needs 25 foundation phase chairs, 50 intermediate phase chairs, 50 intersen phase desks, and 100 intersen phase chairs,” he added.
He further revealed that the Gauteng Department of Education allocated R394,121 for day-to-day maintenance in 2023/24 and R453,861 in 2024/25, but much of the work at the school has since been undone due to vandalism.
The DA in Gauteng demanded that Chiloane urgently provide a detailed implementation plan outlining when the interventions will be delivered, warning that if their demands are not met within 30 days, the matter will be escalated to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
“Should these demands not be met within 30 days, the DA will escalate this matter to the South African Human Rights Commission because the learners of Mpumelelo Primary School cannot continue to suffer while the department drags its feet,” the party said.
The Star sent questions to the department on 8 October but had not received a response by the time of publication.
The Star
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