DA slams GDE over failure to deliver desks to Thembisa school

Learners at Mpumelelo Primary School in Thembisa continue to face unsafe and undignified learning conditions, with reports of children forced to write on their laps or stand during lessons due to a shortage of chairs and desks.

This comes despite a promise from MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, to provide 25 foundation-phase chairs and 50 intermediate-phase chairs between March 3 and 7.

Seven months later, the DA Gauteng returned to the school to assess whether these commitments had been fulfilled.

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According to Khathutshelo Rasilingwane, MPL, DA Gauteng spokesperson for Infrastructure Development, they found children crammed onto broken, unsafe furniture, with no evidence that the promised desks and chairs ever arrived.

“This is not bureaucratic incompetence; it is a breach of public trust and a violation of Section 29 of the Constitution, which guarantees every child the right to basic education in safe conditions conducive to learning.”

The DA noted that earlier inspections revealed mobile classrooms with peeling paint, holes in the walls, and worn-out floors, with unreliable electricity supply further hampering teaching.

In response, MEC committed to replacing the school with a brick-and-mortar facility, stating that site suitability planning was already underway.

However, the DA is calling for a detailed implementation plan with clear timelines and insists that Premier Panyaza Lesufi hold his executive accountable for previous delays.

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“If these demands are not met within 30 days, the DA will escalate this matter to the South African Human Rights Commission. Learners at Mpumelelo Primary School cannot continue to suffer while the department drags its feet,” Rasilingwane said.

The school reportedly borrowed chairs and desks from a neighbouring school to accommodate learners temporarily.

Chiloane’s office, via spokesperson Steve Mabona, clarified: “No learners are being taught standing. The only challenge is the school’s large IsiZulu Grade 1 class. The school has now received the outstanding chairs and tables and will return the borrowed furniture accordingly.”