Infrastructure crumbles as provinces misspend on schools

Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube has warned the Eastern Cape against misusing government grants allocated to it while schools still struggle with unsafe infrastructure. Gwarube, speaking during her visit to schools in Amathole District on Friday, said poor planning was not an excuse for the department’s misspending while schools still struggle with unsafe toilets, old buildings and broken infrastructure. “Our fiscal envelope is consistently shrinking, but the pressures are increasing,” Gwarube said.

“That means whatever the Treasury allocates to us must be spent effectively. We do not want fiscal dumping. We want proper planning and real impact.” Her message comes as the country nears the end of the financial year, a time when departments often rush to spend unused funds.

Gwarube said she had already spoken firmly to all nine provincial education MECs, insisting that every conditional grant be spent properly and on time. “What we are not going to tolerate this year is under-expenditure on infrastructure. If we don’t spend the money allocated to education, we send a message that we don’t have the capacity, and that cannot be true when our schools are in such need,” she said.

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If we don’t spend the money allocated to education, we send a message that we don’t have the capacity, and that cannot be true when our schools are in such need One of the minister’s biggest concerns remains pit toilets, especially in rural provinces such as the Eastern Cape. While she welcomed progress in building new schools and replacing some unsafe toilets, she said the job was far from done. “No pit toilet must still be in sight; our schools must be places of safety and dignity, not just for learners but for teachers too.” She said about 300 schools in the Eastern Cape still have pit toilets not covered by the current Safe Schools programme, and she expects that number to be reduced by at least half by the end of the financial year.

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