ActionSA recently visited the new Birch-Kemp School in Kempton Park, and it’s concerning that the school currently consists only of prefabricated structures without connections to municipal services.
It’s evident that the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) didn’t plan well for this school, as students now have to use temporary toilets while Ekurhuleni rushes to connect services.
ActionSA reached out to Ekurhuleni’s Department of City Planning, which confirmed no communication from the Department of Education regarding how and when services will be connected.
This isn’t just an embarrassing mistake; it means children at the new school will have to use temporary portable toilets without running water for the foreseeable future. Questions linger about why Ekurhuleni wasn’t provided with accurate building plans or requests for service connections.
Despite SANCO’s attempts to intimidate councillors and journalists, we’ll persist in exposing the Gauteng Department of Education’s failures and its struggle to construct proper schools in Gauteng. ActionSA has been clear that political interference is a major obstacle to building an effective education system in South Africa.
As ActionSA, we strongly support the creation of more schools in Kempton Park. However, the GDE must ensure proper planning to guarantee our students can learn with dignity.
ActionSA will also engage with the community on this issue, seeking lasting solutions to the mess created by the department.
by Siyanda Makhubo
