Note to editors: Please find attached English soundbite by Sergio Isa Dos Santos MPL.
The Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) has built just 202 public schools in 32 years while the demand for additional schools and the growing crisis of overcrowding continue to escalate, placing enormous pressure on existing schools. This is a rate of barely six schools being built per year. Gauteng MEC for Education Lebogang Maile has also disclosed that only one school is currently under construction, which means Gauteng learners are doomed to wait generations for the permanent quality schools they deserve.
MEC Maile revealed this startling information in response to questions from the Democratic Alliance (DA). This painfully slow pace of school infrastructure delivery is completely out of step with Gauteng’s growing learner population. Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s failure to fulfil his promises of building schools in Gauteng means more crowded classrooms where learners receive less individual attention from teachers, and environments that are difficult for concentration. Furthermore, children will continue to have to travel further to receive education while also waiting longer to be placed in schools. These factors are not conducive to positive education outcomes.
In his 2023 State of the Province Address (SOPA), Premier Panyaza Lesufi warned that overcrowding and in-migration threatened to overwhelm Gauteng’s education system and announced that the province had received R1.5 billion from National Treasury’s Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) to build 18 schools. This promise has been repeated at every SOPA since then, yet three years later, the department’s latest response records only one school as currently under construction.
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Premier Lesufi cannot continue announcing new schools while his government fails to deliver them. Gauteng urgently needs permanent schools to address overcrowding, accommodate learner growth and provide learners with safe and appropriate learning environments.
Worse still, MEC Maile admits that Gauteng needs at least 200 additional schools to tackle overcrowding. Yet, after 32 years of ANC-led government, 202 schools have been built, with only one currently under construction.
The contrast with the DA-run Western Cape shows what is possible when a competent government prioritise infrastructure. Since 2019, the Western Cape Government has built 35 new schools, 15 replacement schools and more than 1,300 additional classrooms at existing schools, including 48 classrooms for learners with special education needs. In total, 2,217 classrooms have been delivered across new, replacement, and existing schools
Through its Rapid School Build Programme, the Western Cape is focusing on delivering permanent school infrastructure quickly. Macassar Primary School, for example, provides capacity for approximately 1,860 learners at a cost of about R107 million, compared with Gauteng’s own benchmark of R175 million for a new school. The Western Cape has also demonstrated that quality schools can be delivered quickly: Saxonsea Junior School was completed in just 65 days, while Fisherhaven School was completed in 71 days.
A DA-led Gauteng Government would end this failure to deliver. We would ensure proper project management, appoint competent and accountable contractors, enforce strict oversight, and prevent corruption and political interference. We would also implement a rapid-build programme, based on the successful Western Cape model, to deliver safe, quality permanent schools and end the delays that leave learners crammed into overcrowded classrooms.