Petitioners demand answers about Etwatwa school at hearing

At a regional external petition hearing at Tshepo Themba Multipurpose Centre on June 9, the Gauteng Legislature Standing Committee on Petitions recommended the provincial Department of Education to produce a progress report in three months on the state of readiness regarding the construction of new primary and secondary schools in Etwatwa Ext 37.

This follows petitioner Manqoba Sarila’s dissatisfaction with the GDE response that the delay was due to the illegal occupation of the land they had earmarked for the construction of the schools.

Sarila petitioned the department in February 2018 to build a school in the ward, alleging that learners travelled more than six kilometres to school and that there was no scholar transport.

The department stated that it had identified stand 31185 to build a bigger school to replace Ngezani Primary School.

“The site we had identified was occupied illegally before construction could begin and that has delayed the process.

“Three other sites were identified and one is suitable for occupation. We have an agreement with the City of Ekurhuleni to begin construction. We are waiting for the property to be transferred to the department so that we can proceed.”

Sarila accused the department of reneging on a resolution they reached with the city on the fencing and subsequent construction of the school on stand 31185.

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“We agreed that we are going to fence that space. I was expecting the department to tell me what was delaying the fencing of that space, so that we continue with the transfer of Ngezani to ext 37.

“It’s like we are starting afresh. The report says there’s another site and they are still going to prepare the budget. They assured me they have a budget.

“Our community needs the schools. When it is raining, it is painful to see our children walk in mud and jump over puddles of water to go to school. We need the report to confirm the commencement of the project.”

On the petition by Robert Nkumane from Ext 34 in Barcelona, he is alleging that in the 20 years he’s lived in the area, they had no running water, electricity or proper sanitation. It was recommended that the city send the committee clear sustainability plans and how it will put the matter in place.

Furthermore, the municipality should send the committee time frames to address Nkumane’s concerns by July 04.

Peter Lewele submitted a petition on behalf of Mayfield Ext 45 residents. He alleged that in 2017 the MMC for Human Settlements, Cllr Lesiba Mpya, introduced a ‘permanent stands project’ earmarked for the residents of Marikana, Baghdad and Lindelani.

He further alleged that the first phase of allocating permanent stands went smoothly until the municipal officials allowed the street committees to run the project and the allocations.

Lewele accused the street committees of corruption and lack of information on the relocation process and deliberate mix-up of stand numbers.

The committee requested the city to conduct an investigation and open a case against the wrongdoers, as well as to engage and raise the corruption matter with the provincial investigations units.

Furthermore, the committee recommended that community members need to organise themselves and write down their grievances so that they can liaise with the police and arrange a hearing for the community.

On the petition put forward by Eric Mahlangu from Barcelona Ext 34, he alleged that former ward councillor Clr Nolwazi Tati informed the community in 2015 the municipality plans to build a park and hall in the area.

He said the construction of the park has commenced but the community was not happy as the park is different from the one they agreed upon with Clr Tati and that the fence is on the road.

Furthermore, he alleged that they have informed the ward councillor, but the process was not halted.

The petition was referred to the city for investigation and reporting, and to the portfolio committee on CoGTA and Human Settlements for oversight on February 05, 2018.

The department stated it does not have the report but will liaise with the petitions office while the city requested seven days to investigate, as they were not aware of the report.

On the construction of a hall, the city’s SRAC said they have been downscaling on the construction of new facilities due to insufficient funding. However, the request will be accommodated from the 2025/26 financial year, subject to funding availability.

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