The Democratic Alliance (DA) has requested the Office of the Public Protector to probe the construction project of the Steynville High School hall in Hopetown.
This comes a day after the Office of the Public Protector (PP) confirmed that they are investigating an incomplete electrification project in Hopetown, for which the Thembelihle municipality made an upfront payment of R2,2 million. They are also looking into shoddy workmanship of the Hopetown stadium, for which an amount of R11,5 million was also paid in advance.
It is increasingly clear that the Thembelihle area has become a hotbed of corruption. It is for this reason that we have decided to also refer our ongoing concerns regarding the school hall project for further investigation.
The DA first became aware of irregularities regarding the hall in 2022, after receiving information of the alleged re-awarding of a tender for the failed school construction project to the very company that previously absconded from the project, allowing it to go to ruin.
At that stage, the school hall, which only got as far as a metal frame with a roof, had already been left to stand for two years without being completed. The structure was visibly rusted due to exposure to the elements and required a full frame replacement before the project could proceed.
We were therefore bowled over by reports that a contract had been re-awarded to the same company, for the rectification of the work already done and the completion of the project, that had by then reached its due date.
On more than one occasion, we raised our concerns with the Premier, Dr Zamani Saul, and posed questions to related government departments but the matter was not taken any further.
The department of education has since confirmed in the Annual Report for 2022/23 that there has been only one consultant working on this project. Based on previous reports, the target completion date shifted from 30 October 2022 until 26 January 2024. Between reports tabled in March and October 2023, the project costs also increased substantially from R6 million to R9,890 million. This is an almost R4 million cost escalation in a matter of just seven months.
Given provincial government’s unwillingness to investigate this case, we have requested the PP to launch a probe into the project. To date, the hall is not yet operational, as tiles and electricity must still be laid. We further welcome their probe into the other irregular projects in Thembelihle.
Children should not have to bear the brunt of questionable contracts that render projects overdue and over budget, at the expense of learners who have to sit in overcrowded classes, study in dilapidated libraries and live in run-down hostels because the government is incapable of infrastructure management.