Learners wait seven years for R39-million school

A second contractor has left the site of the Eyabantu Senior Secondary School, a project launched in 2019. Photo: Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

Matriculants at Eyabantu Senior Secondary School in KwaMaqoma (Fort Beaufort) in the Eastern Cape were hoping to write their exams in new classrooms they have been promised since 2019. But the school is still not ready, and a second contractor has been fired.

The original building was demolished in 2019 for a new school to be built. But the first contractor left the site when the covid lockdown began in 2020, and never returned, claiming that they had not been paid. In August 2022, learners marched to the offices of the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE) demanding that their new school be built.

At the time, ECDoE spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said plans for the R39-million new school were underway.

But the school is not yet complete and learners are still being taught in the old, overcrowded prefab classrooms.

School governing body member Themba Mgwelo told GroundUp last month that a second contractor had been appointed in 2024 and had been expected to complete the school by August this year.

Mgwelo said everyone had hoped that this year’s matric learners would write their exams in the new classrooms. Altthough work had started well, within a few months complaints emerged about workers not being paid. Workers began missing work, sometimes returning several days after payday.

Mtima said the second contractor’s contract had been terminated because of poor performance. He said the Coega Development Corporation was busy with a new contract for completion of the school.

“As parents, we want the whole school to be completed. The department promised to bring another contractor, but we are still waiting. We just hope they won’t take as long as they did before,” Mgwelo said.

Grade 10 learner Anothando Tshoko said the prefabricated classrooms were overcrowded, cold in winter and unbearably hot in summer.

“We were really looking forward to having our new school this year, but now we have to keep waiting,” she said.

Mtima did not respond to questions about how much had been spent on the project so far.

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