NELSPRUIT – Treasury came to the rescue of the education department with R71 million for damaged schools.
This despite its budget allocation of R692,3 million for school infrastructure.
This was revealed at a media briefing on Wednesday held by the MEC, Ms Reginah Mhaule to address the problem of repairing 76 damaged schools.
In regards to why the department had needed more financial aid, Mhaule stated that it was nearing the end of the financial year. She thanked the premier and treasury for the financial resources.
In her budget speech in May 2013, Mhaule stated that some of the R692,3 million budget was also allocated for renovations of 44 storm-damaged schools. Yet, it wasn’t clear if they were still part of the 76 schools.
The media asked Mhaule when Mpumalanga Primary School in Matsulu, which had been left without a roof since December, would be repaired. She promised that by the end of today (Friday), the contractors would be there to fix the problem.
In questions regarding schools that were built during apartheid and were run down, she said the department would be dealing with either building new structures or fixing them in 2015. She stated it wanted the process to be fast-tracked, but was obliged to follow the administrative procedure. “It is expected that some of the work should be completed by the second week of March.”
