Withdrawing of Infrastructure Grant a Setback for the Eastern Cape Education Department, Committee Chair

The Select Committee on Education, Sciences and the Creative Industries has called on the Eastern Cape Department of Education to respond to the shocking news of half-a-billion-rands infrastructure grant being withheld by the National Treasury.

The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Makhi Feni, said the news was a setback for the province, and the timing is bad because it happens when the Eastern Cape delegation of the permanent delegates to the National Council of Provinces is to be troubled by this news.

“The Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Education needs to explain this challenge as it is the most affected by infrastructure needs. This is the time for honesty and reflection. The Eastern Cape is the last province to lose this amount of money sadly for the reasons that the National Treasury has alluded to,” said Mr Feni.

The committee visited schools in the Amathole West District and in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, in Gqeberha last month where serious infrastructure challenges were identified. The sad situation of the infrastructure needs was no better pronounced than at Greenville Primary in Bethelsdorp, in Gqeberha.

Mr Feni said what the National Treasury is saying has revealed the reasons behind a situation where 100% of the infrastructure budget would be spent in the second quarter, when in fact a mere 10% of performance had been achieved.

“The department should motivate to Treasury for the money to be released and not hide their heads into the sand. If help is required, they should indicate as such so that the national Department of Basic Education takes care of the provincial affairs. The province did not need this news, and the timing is bad.”

The committee will demand accountability and will hold the Eastern Cape Department of Education to the highest standard of accountability particularly around the issues of infrastructure.

The Eastern Cape’s permanent delegates to the NCOP will from tomorrow be in the OR Tambo District on the Provincial Week Programme to, among other things, assess service delivery in the municipalities in the district.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.