MEC Lesufi’s PR games on asbestos schools is farcical

27 June 2017

The DA notes with concern reports that the Gauteng Department of Education “promises” to eradicate asbestos schools.

This sounds good as a PR exercise but raising unnecessary expectations is unfair. There is no capacity and political will to eradicate all asbestos schools in Gauteng.

The department was allocated R3 billion for school infrastructure in the last financial year, but failed to spend it.

This year, the department has budgeted R1.7 billion for school infrastructure. The budget allocation to build schools is just under R600 million.

This will not see the eradication of more than 29 asbestos schools in the province.

Schools like Noordgesig Primary, Ruster-Vaal Secondary and many more have been on the list for years and no action has been taken to date.

Teachers and learners exposed to asbestos dust face major health hazards. Most asbestos school buildings have deteriorated, panels are cracked, broken and exposed in classrooms.

The DA believes that this is purely a PR exercise by the department to show that they are doing something.

The department has failed to meet the National Development Plan target to eradicate all asbestos schools by the end of November 2016.

The DA will continue to monitor the progress of rebuilding asbestos schools. The DA will put pressure on the department to ensure that learners and teachers are not placed in a high-risk environment that will see the quality of schooling deteriorate.

Issued by Khume Ramulifho, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, 27 June 2017