R300m special needs school in Lyndhurst abandoned by Gauteng Education Department
LYNDHURST – The school still remains empty after it was officially opened last year.
It is shameful that a state-of-the-art school with much-needed facilities is standing empty while under-equipped schools are severely overcrowded and cannot adequately meet the needs of children.
This according to Khume Ramulifho, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education who visited the newly built Nokuthula LSEN School in Lyndhurst on 1 March.
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Following the visit, Ramulifho said they were shocked to see that there are no schoolchildren, no teaching and no learning taking place as the school stands empty.
The purpose of the visit was to inspect whether the school is operational and to assess the progress of learning and teaching at this school, said Ramulifho.
The school was officially opened in October last year by the Gauteng Premier, David Makhura, Gauteng Department of Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi and the MEC for Infrastructure Development, Jacob Mamabolo and to date, it is still not operational.
It also hosted the announcement of the Gauteng 2017 matric results in January.
“We were given the impression that it would be operational at the beginning of the 2018 academic year but this never happened,” Ramulifho said.
“The school cost the department R300 million, it has all the needed facilities including soccer, netball, rugby, volleyball fields and basketball and tennis courts. It also has an indoor swimming pool, however, it is disappointing that none of our learners is benefiting from this investment.”
Ramulifho has accused the department of neglecting this ‘quality facility’ by not providing any maintenance.
“We have been informed that the department is awaiting an occupational certificate from the City of Joburg.
“This confirms that the department builds schools without a proper plan in place and does not comply with the standard norms and rules – this department lacks proper planning and a cohesive strategy.”
The beneficiaries of this new school are still cramped in an unsafe warehouse in Marlboro while waiting to be relocated to this new school in Lyndhurst, he added.
DA demands that the old Nokuthula LSEN School in Marlboro be relocated to the new school with immediate effect.
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Ramulifho concluded, “We have engaged both Lesufi and the City of Johannesburg to urgently attend to this matter. The City is waiting for GDE to submit a rezoning application, as well as an application for occupation certificate. The delay to utilise the state-of-the-art facility is with the MEC’s office.”
Details: Khume Ramulifho 082 398 7375.
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