The DA in the Eastern Cape has raised concerns after the Eastern Cape Department of Education has forfeited over R200-million of its Education Infrastructure Grant Funding. The party has further accused the department of bungling the grant, adding that it proves it should be placed under administration.
"This is yet another devastating blow to learners of this province," the party said.
According to the DA's Yusuf Cassim, the loss of funds is a devastating blow to the province, which has an ever-growing infrastructure backlog, currently standing at R82,3 billion.
Cassim said there are at least 3 157 schools in the province with poor sanitation facilities.
"Of that number, 1 445 schools are still making use of pit latrine death traps. There are 3 926 schools that do not have appropriate fencing and 634 schools that need a total of 9 464 classrooms built or refurbished," he said.
He said, despite these challenges, the department has proven that it is incapable of spending the finances to address these challenges.
"It has been clear for some time that the Department was not going to be able to spend the funding made available to it. As of December 2021, the Department had only spent R600 million of the R1.7 billion budget for infrastructure. The R204,144 million in forfeited funds will most likely be distributed to other provinces that have proven they can spend the funds provided," he said.
Cassim added that learners have to spend another year attending dilapidated schools which puts their safety at risk.
He said what makes matters work is that whenever a school appeals for assistance with failing infrastructure, they are told to take the funding from their maintenance budgets.
However, Cassim said, these budgets have been dramatically slashed by up to 40% through the norms and standards budget cuts.
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