Repairs to schools will run to R25bn
Patrick Cull POLITICAL EDITOR
THE Eastern Cape education department requires R24,8-billion to address infrastructure backlogs and carry out repairs and maintenance – R1,3-billion in Port Elizabeth alone and a further R575,7-million in Uitenhage.
In Grahamstown, just under R300-million is required, in Cradock R250-million and in Graaff-Reinet R192-million. The biggest amounts are required in Transkei, which was “severely under-resourced prior to 1994” with “insufficient effort” made to address the situation after 1994.
The department‘s 2009/10 draft infrastructure plan tabled in the Bhisho legislature last week also reveals that currently only 621 (11 per cent) of the 5704 schools in the province are in a “good condition” with a further 237 (4%) being housed in new buildings.
The condition of 1060 (19%) is described as “very weak”, 1601 (28%) as “weak” with a further 2088 (37%) in need of repair. Just 71 schools are currently being upgraded.
Against that background, the department is hopelessly underfunded with only R1,3-billion allocated for the 2009/10 financial year for infrastructure-related projects and a fraction under R3,1-billion for the next two years.
It says that while this amounts to a “significant improvement on previous years, these budgets are still wholly insufficient to begin addressing backlogs”.
“The current budget is insufficient to eradicate mud structures and address backlogs and also maintain existing infrastructure adequately.”
The department states that there are three options for a funding strategy:
Increase the annual budget to meet the needs at the agreed levels of service;
Lower the levels of service to reduce financial requirements to budget levels; and
Extend the period in which backlogs will be eliminated – at current funding levels this is impossible if adequate funds are still to be made available for maintenance.
The department states that the final strategy may have to be a combination of all three, but warns that “the only alternative that will find acceptance within the affected communities” will be increasing the budget and it recommends strong lobbying to redress funding to eliminate backlogs. The national government, it states, should be requested to access donor-funding to assist.