Residents concerned about crumbling school building
DID previously told this publication that the school hall repair work needed to be budgeted and planned for. Almost four years later, the facility is still in dire condition and at the mercy of thieves and vandals.
Reiger Park residents remain concerned about the almost decade-long delay in fixing the crumbling hall at the Oosrand Commerce and Entrepreneurship School of Specialisation.
Over the past nine years, residents and other affected parties repeatedly called for the school hall to be fixed and protected against vandals – who have already stolen the giant building’s furniture, doors, windows, plumbing and electrical wires.
However, they feel their calls for help fell on deaf ears because nothing has happened to remedy the problem.
The area’s ward councillor, the PA’s Edith Klassen, is among the community leaders who described the dilapidated hall as a concern demanding urgent attention from the relevant authorities.
She said the structure’s poor state is a risk to learners, staff and the community.
“Ahead of elections, political party leaders typically come to our area and promise people that all their issues would be attended to, but after the election, nothing happens, and we, the ward councillors who have nothing to do with the empty promises made, are severely bashed. All we typically get when we escalate such issues to the relevant authorities is ‘No funding’.”
The school principal declined to comment publicly about the matter because he is not authorised to speak on behalf of the relevant departments. He referred the Boksburg Advertiser to the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (DID), responsible for public infrastructure.
The DID has not yet responded to our request for comment on the long-standing issue.
The Advertiser has repeatedly reported on this issue since 2020, and in the last update from the DID, it said the school hall repair work needed to be budgeted and planned for. Almost four years later, the facility is still in dire condition and at the mercy of thieves and vandals.
Concerned parties reiterate their claim that, as part of the project to build the newly constructed multimillion-rand state-of-the-art school, previously known as Oosrand Secondary School, the government appointed and paid a contractor to renovate the old school hall. But, according to the sources, the contractor failed to deliver the service within the projected time and budget before abandoning the site.
The developer allegedly told the department the project exceeded the budget given at the planning stage.
Sources working closely with the school, who asked for anonymity, told the Advertiser vandalism of the structure rose after the facility was left unattended after the DID’s “failed project” to revamp it.
