THE core of developing a healthy and functional citizenship lies in South Africa’s capacity to educate their people appropriately. As we approached2025, with a new hope as we entered the 31st year of being a democracy, we are still faced with circumstances which continue to highlight the inequalities that persist in South Africa.
It is devastating that at this point, schools in KwaZulu-Natal still lack the necessary basic resources despite education supposedly being prioritised and deemed as the primary way to alleviate poverty and develop economic equity amongst our people.
We are grappling with two challenges, one is that some schools have gone without water and electricity in some provinces for years on end and continue to exist, whereas others continually experience inconsistent and problematic supply to water.
There are only three provinces in South Africa which have been recorded to have all their schools with functional access to water. These provinces are Gauteng, Western Cape and Northern Cape. The remaining provinces still have schools that are functional without appropriate water and sanitation facilities.
Ogunjini Primary School in Ndwedwe, North of Durban has reportedly been without water for a period of two weeks, with still no aid from the municipality. Approximately 800 learners have not attended school for a period of 2 weeks, and the municipality clearly does not see the urgency in this matter. The teaching and learning program have been halted.
There have been verbal promises made in 2024, by the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal to resolve the water shortages challenges and accessibility within schools in the province, yet there has been no structural measure put into place to address this major concern.
Government and citizens are fully aware of their human rights, yet there is little consideration towards children not having access to clean sanitation facilities and drinking water.
Nearly 1 in 10 schools in South Africa still utilise pit-toilets, but the irony is that the infrastructural budget allocated for schools in 2024 was under-utilised. It was reported that the Department of Education only built one school in 2024, and provinces such as The Eastern Cape and Limpopo that require aid in infrastructural development and maintenance in schools were not addressed.
As years progress, the backlog lists of schools that need resources, accessibility to electricity, water and sanitation as well as infrastructure just continue to increase.
The Western Cape provincial government recorded the highest number of schools built or refurbished that were required in 2024. There were 39 projects completed in comparison to the 3 projects completed in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. The figure in Mpumalanga and Northern Cape was one school in each province.
The Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (Asidi), established in 2011, had not met their objectives and goals for the last few years, which is detrimental to the complete development of our South African Society. The reasons range from budget cuts and a lack of urgent evaluation systems and protocols that ensure measures and frameworks are implemented in these circumstances.
With budgets being reportedly under-utilised, we cannot but question the capacity of the Department of Basic Education to facilitate and manage these infrastructural projects, rather than blame a lack of funding. The ideal measure would be to secure reasonable service providers that are efficient and skilled in the building of schools and refurbishment of dilapidated schools.
These projects also require the injection of resources that are well built with long-lasting high quality building materials so that the infrastructure can serve South African children for years on end. The dire need for clean water, sanitation facilities as well as electricity hubs needs to be urgently attended to so that families refrain from declaring that schools are becoming unsafe and unhygienic spaces for their children.
There are schools that rely on water tankers and makeshift mobile toilet facilities still, even though when these facilities were installed, they were intended to be temporary measures.
The health risks are detrimental, especially when children do not have access to hygienic and appropriate sanitation facilities and clean drinking water. In addition, water borne diseases thrive in such conditions.
Parents have complained that schools within the iLembe district of KwaZulu-Natal have water tankers that are placed in spaces which puts children at risk. These tankers are not closed off to the school community, enabling anyone to be in close proximity to them, which can be dangerous if young children are left unattended.
These circumstances continually deter people from sending their children to school and devalue the importance of education and its purpose to develop a child. The framework and objectives of the Asidi need to be modified and reassessed with considerations towards budgets, appropriate service providers and a continual assessment process of each project that will be supported through this initiative. Government needs to intervene with urgency to avoid children declaring that their places of learning are unsafe and unhygienic.
An urgent address is required so that schools have improved access to facilities so that the teaching and learning process is not disrupted and meets South African educational standards.
DAILY NEWS