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DA to assess construction progress and safety interventions at Simunye Secondary and Altmont Technical High School

Tomorrow, Thursday, 21 September 2023, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, Khume Ramulifho MPL, will conduct oversight inspections at Simunye Secondary School and Altmont Technical High School.

The DA will assess the progress of the construction of the brick-and-mortar structure to replace the dilapidated mobile classrooms at Simunye Secondary School in Bekkersdal.

We will also assess the implementation of the safety intervention strategy at Altmont Technical High School in Protea South following several incidents of violence and gangsterism.

Members of the media are invited, and there will be an opportunity for interviews and photographs.

Details of the oversight are as follows:

Date: 21 September 2023

Oversight inspection one

Time: 10:00
Venue: Simunye Secondary School, Bekkersdal, Westonaria, 1779

Oversight inspection Two

Time: 11:00
Venue: Altmont Technical High School

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DA to assess the progress of infrastructure repairs at Thabaneng Primary and Thubelihle Secondary schools

Tomorrow, Thursday, 14 September 2023, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, Khume Ramulifho MPL and DA Councillor for Ward 40 in the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Sean Kreusch will conduct an oversight inspection at Thabaneng Primary School and Thubelihle Secondary School in Soweto.

The DA will assess the progress of the R17 244 855,24 worth of repairs at Thabaneng Primary School and the renovations at Thubelihle Secondary School.

The renovations were stopped, and the contract was terminated in 2021 at Thubelihle Secondary School.

The DA will assess the state of the infrastructure of these two schools and engage the school management and the School Governing Body (SGB) to ascertain how it affects teaching and learning.

Members of the media are invited for an opportunity to take pictures and ask questions.

Details of the oversight are as follows:

Date: 14 September 2023

Oversight inspection one

Time: 10:00
Venue: Thubelihle Secondary School, 6224 Phera St, Jabavu, Soweto,1809.

Oversight inspection Two

Time: 11:00
Venue:Thabaneng Primary School, 8885, Hennessy, Orlando West, Soweto.

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DA to inspect illegally operating schools in Bloubosrand, Fourways

Today, Monday, 11 September 2023, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, Khume Ramulifho MPL, the DA Spokesperson for Education, Sergio Don Santos MPL and the DA’s City of Johannesburg Ward 115 Councillor, Cllr Mark Van der Merwe, will conduct an oversight inspection at the illegal schools operating in Bloubosrand, Fourways.The DA has received numerous complaints about the appalling conditions that the learners are being taught in at the following illegally operating schools: Gateway Private School, Boipuso Primary and High School, and Iron Primary School.

The environment is not conducive for quality learning and teaching to take place. Compounding the crisis, is a recent fire incident at Boipuso Primary School which revealed that the school has no record of safety certificates being issued.

The DA will assess the infrastructure of all four schools and ascertain why the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has not yet closed down these illegally operating schools.

Members of the media are invited, and there will be an opportunity for interviews and photographs.

Details of the oversight are as follows:

Date: 11 September 2023
Starting Point: Total Garage, Cnr Witkoppen and Riverbend Roads, Bloubosrand
Time: 09:00
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GDE must prioritise building schools in Wallmannsthal to relieve learners commuting to Soshanguve

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng demands that the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) prioritise building schools in Wallmannsthal to relieve learners from commuting 46 km to access schools in Soshanguve.

Wallmannsthal is a new development area in Tshwane that does not have public schools. Parents and guardians have no option but to send their children to Soshanguve, which is far away.

Today, the DA joined the learners and followed buses from Wallmannsthal to Soshanguve; we departed at 6:00 am. The safety of learners is at risk as they must wake up early in the morning to catch the bus and arrive at school exhausted from travelling a long distance.

We were also informed by the bus operator that GDE has contracted them to transport only high school learners. They are doing a favour by transporting primary school learners. The bus returns at 16:00 pm, which means that the primary school learners must wait for the secondary school learners, particularly matrics who finish at 16:00 pm.

Furthermore, these learners are being denied access to extra mural activities as they spend most of their time commuting to and from school.

The DA will table questions to the Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) to ascertain whether the department has plans to build schools in the area, when the schools will be built and how much the budget allocation will be.

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Correction: DA to assess unroadworthy Soshanguve scholar transport

Tomorrow, Thursday, 6 September 2023,the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, Khume Ramulifho MPL, the City of Tshwane MMC for Transport, Cllr Rachel Mathebe and Community member in Ward 99, Victor Mshangoane will join the learners taking a bus from Wallmannsthal to Soshanguve.

The DA will assess the daily terrible conditions that learners face when commuting with scholar transport.

We have received numerous complaints from concerned parents and the community about the unroadworthy scholar transport posing a safety risk for learners travelling a long distance to and from school.

Members of the media are invited, and there will be an opportunity for interviews and photographs.

Details of the event are as follows:

Date: 7 September 2023
Venue: Magalies Wallmannsthal WTP
Time: 05:30

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DA to assess unroadworthy Soshanguve scholar transport

Tomorrow, Thursday, 6 September 2023, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, Khume Ramulifho MPL, the City of Tshwane MMC for Transport, Cllr Rachel Mathebe and Community member in Ward 99, Victor Mshangoane will join the learners taking a bus from Wallmannsthal to Soshanguve.

The DA will assess the daily terrible conditions that learners face when commuting with scholar transport.

We have received numerous complaints from concerned parents and the community about the unroadworthy scholar transport posing a safety risk for learners travelling a long distance to and from school.

Members of the media are invited, and there will be an opportunity for interviews and photographs.

Details of the event are as follows:

Date: 6 September 2023
Venue: Magalies Wallmannsthal WTP
Time: 05:30

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Learners to lose out on valuable learning and teaching time due to no budget for building new schools

Gauteng learners and teachers will continue to endure overcrowded classrooms that are not conducive to learning and teaching because there is no budget for building new schools in 2024.

This information was revealed by the Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, during a Portfolio Committee meeting on Education this week.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is concerned because there are many abandoned school projects in the province. This trend is ongoing and costing taxpayers a lot of money. The latest school to be abandoned is Semphato Secondary School in Soshanguve. This school was scheduled to be completed in March this year, but the service provider has abandoned the project.

The following schools have also been abandoned:
• Mayibuye Primary School;
• Nanciefield Primary School;
• Laerskool Frikie Meyer;
• Ahanang Primary School;
• Hillcrest Primary School;
• Thubelihle Primary School;
• LG Holele Secondary School;
• Ruster Vaal Secondary School.

The number of abandoned schools will create a huge burden on the placement of learners in 2024. This will be compounded by the department’s failure to build new schools in 2024.
The GDE has failed in its core mandate to provide access to quality basic education. Currently, there are schools where learners attend classes on a rotational basis because the department has failed to provide the necessary classrooms.

The DA brought these issues to MEC Chiloane’s attention, but he is out of touch with how the department functions.

There appears to be a new trend: projects are abandoned after spending more than 70% of the allocated budget. This is an opportunity for looters to reward the same projects to other connected service providers.

The DA will continue to put pressure on the MEC to ensure that all abandoned schools are fixed and utilised for learning and teaching.

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Adequate safety and hygiene measures must be implemented to avoid food poisoning in schools

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is demanding that the Gauteng Department of Education urgently implement adequate safety and hygiene measures in school nutrition programmes to avoid food poisoning.

Today, the DA conducted an oversight inspection at Rodney Mokoena Primary School in Soshanguve following a food poisoning incident.

We discovered that 78 learners fell ill with alleged food poisoning and were rushed to the hospital for medical attention. Four learners were admitted to George Mkhari Hospital and discharged on Thursday.

We were also informed that parents closed the school gates on Thursday morning, demanding answers on what happened.

Furthermore, Tshwane Environmental Health has taken food samples for testing, and the results will be available on Wednesday next week.

The department has suspended seven food handlers from the school for not following instructions on preparing samp, which was served to learners. It is alleged that they soaked the samp on Tuesday instead of Wednesday, the day they prepared the food.

The DA demands that the department ensure that all kitchen facilities and personnel meet health standards and urges the municipalities to conduct regular inspections to assess the compliance and quality of food provided to learners in our schools.

In addition, we also demand that the department provide alternative means to serve food starting Monday, as learners are without food due to the suspension of the food handlers.

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DA to visit Rodney Mokoena Primary School following food poisoning of 40 learners

Tomorrow, Friday, 25 August 2023, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, Khume Ramulifho MPL, and the DA Tshwane Ward 89 Councillor, Cllr Thabisile Vilakazi, will conduct an oversight inspection at Rodney Mokoena Primary School in Soshanguve following the alleged food poisoning.

Forty of the learners were rushed to a nearby clinic after allegedly falling ill due to food poisoning.

The DA is saddened by this incident as the lives of learners were put at risk. It is of the utmost importance that all hygiene and safety protocols are followed when cooking for school learners.

We will engage with the school management, the School Governing Body (SGB), and those responsible for the school nutrition programme to ascertain what happened.

Members of the media are invited, and there will be an opportunity for interviews and photographs.

Details of the oversight are as follows:

Date: 25 August 2023
Venue: Rodney Mokoena Primary
Time: 10:00

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GDE wastes money on school rent despite owning more than 120 abandoned schools

Instead of the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) fixing over 120 abandoned schools in the province, they are paying monthly rent for 20 schools. This is a waste of much-needed funds that could be used to renovate and refurbish some of the closed schools.

Phoenix Secondary School, formerly known as Hoer Tegniese Skool in Duncanville, Vereeniging, is one of many schools where the department is paying millions of rands for rent for a property that used to be owned by the department.

This information was revealed by the Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, in a written reply to the DA’s questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).

See attachments here and here.

The MEC failed to disclose the monthly rent per school.

It is unacceptable that rent is being paid, yet there are so many closed and abandoned schools in the province that can be renovated and used for learning and teaching.

The DA has submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application to get a full disclosure of how much the department is paying a month for rent per school. Gauteng residents need to know how much the department spends on rent for schools to ensure value for money.