5 June 2026
Pentech resident Jacky Lemens at a meeting where residents were demanding a school be built in their community. Photos: Onesisa Khalipha
Residents in Pentech in extension 23 of Belhar, Cape Town, say they have been pleading for a local school for decades. The community of about 4,000, say they are the only section with no primary or high school.
Their children have to travel to neighbouring areas: secondary schools in extensions 1, 3 and 6; and primary schools in sections 9, 10, 11 and 12, such as Riebeeck Street, Dr Van de Ross and Matroosbergweg.
As the schools are within five kilometres, they do not qualify for state scholar transport. Parents say their children have to cross busy Erica Drive on foot which is dangerous.
The Belhar area also has frequent shooting incidents, at times when children commute to or from school.
Tensions between the City of Cape Town and the community have escalated recently since construction started of the Belhar Infill Housing Project on Herschelle Way on land residents say was earmarked for a school.
Cornelia Onkruid, who has lived in Pentech since 1993, says, “I was there at the meetings. The City said we would get a school, a shop and even a petrol station, but none of those things have been built here.”
Onkruid says their children have no proper recreational spaces. She knows of residents who rely on SASSA grants but must pay up to R630 a month to transport their children to school.
Ayesha Solarie, who has lived in Pentech since 1991, also says the community participated in discussions with City officials and a school was promised decades ago.
“We even marched in 2002 to the Western Cape Education Department to ask when it would be built,” she said. “They told us there was no funding at the time and that discussions could continue the following year, but no one ever came back to us.”
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond says no readily available records show a firm promise was made. Hammond said many officials from that era have also left government service.
She said the department delivers schools based on objective criteria, such as enrolment projections, population growth, land availability, budget considerations and demonstrated need.
At a community meeting on 25 April, people their expressed anger, claiming most residents want a school not more housing.
The community committee spokesperson Labieka Anthony says, “In 2021, a small group was notified about a petition to object to housing, which was signed and submitted, but after that there was no communication for years.”
According to the committee, most people in the community only became aware of the changed purpose of the site when housing contractors arrived.
The committee says the area is already densely populated, and more housing will only make matters worse.
“If a school is not built, then the land should remain communal. We cannot accept more housing without the necessary infrastructure,” said Anthony.
Mayco member for human settlements Carl Pophaim says the Belhar project will deliver 216 “housing opportunities to qualifying beneficiaries”. The tender was awarded on 24 November 2025. Construction started on 8 April and the duration of the project is ten months if all goes to plan.
Pophaim said the City did inform the community that the site was designated for housing to address housing backlogs in the area.
Backyard dwellers have welcomed the housing project.
Shuroot Tromp said, “I agree that a school was promised, but if I am offered a house through this project, I will take it.”
Tromp said backyarders are caught between the campaign for the school and their need for housing.
Residents opposed to the housing development have now secured legal assistance and briefed senior counsel. They are also raising funds within the community to cover legal costs.
Meanwhile, the City maintains that the development is lawful and that residents do not have the right to stop construction.
Construction is underway for the Herschel Way Belhar Infill Housing project.
