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2010 10 08  School building project starts up again

A TRANSKEI school can now claim victory after petitioning the Mthatha High Court to compel the Department of Education to complete its construction.

In October last year, contractors abandoned building the Emvilo Junior Secondary School in Ntshingeni location near Ngqeleni - after digging trenches and demolishing the five mud structures that made up the school - leaving building material strewn about.

The contractor was on site for only a month before leaving the project. For almost two years, pupils from the ages of five to 15 have been taught in corrugated iron shacks with mud floors and no doors.

Through the Legal Resource Centre (LRC), the school's crisis committee, headed by Gulum Matanzima, lodged an application to the court.

LRC attorney Cameron McConnachie said that after reading about the school's plight in the Dispatch in February, he approached the school to offer his assistance.

And six weeks after papers were filed in April, the department approved R12.5 million for work to restart .

Principal Tobeka Bhengu told the Dispatch yesterday that new contractors arrived at the school in August and already two blocks had been built to window level.

Bhengu said construction was expected to be completed next year.

"This is a situation we just cannot describe. This is not conducive for learning.

"Pupils were already leaving the school because of the conditions," Bhengu said.

In February, the department "admitted" that the contractor had abandoned the project because it had not been paid.

However, in his answering affidavit before the court Qiqili Msiwa, acting director of facilities and infrastructure management in the department, said construction at the school had in fact ground to a halt due to fraud.

It is now unclear what led to the project being abandoned.

"The delay in this matter was caused by the Independent Development Trust (IDT), which in the first instance terminated the contract of the first contractor on the grounds of fraud," Msiwa said in a statement.

He further stated that the IDT - an organisation which provides programme management for government - and the Department of Public Works should also have been held accountable.

In a letter addressed to the acting superintendent-general dated June 2, 2010, Msiwa outlined events as follows:

l Emvilo was put out to tender by the IDT in the 2008/09 financial year and awarded the same year. It was terminated due to a fraudulent joint venture to which the tender was awarded;

l During the termination process, the department was projecting over-expenditure and the project was put on hold;

l In August, the project was resuscitated with a budget of R10150000; and

l Taking everything into consideration, the realistic budget is R12513961.26 and therefore an additional R2363961.26 was required.

McConnachie was ecstatic.

"The LRC is extremely happy with the outcome and we are glad that further legal action was not necessary. We are most pleased for the learners, who will soon be able to enjoy learning in conditions conducive for receiving basic education."

Emvilo pupils now only have a short wait before they can start enjoying their promised 10 classrooms, administration block, new toilets and computer room.

Publication: Dispatch, Author: ASA SOKOPO