DA raises concerns about R300m special needs school being demolished

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has raised concerns of at least R300 million of taxpayers’ money being ‘wasted’ if a special needs school in Lyndhurst is demolished.

The party also said it would leave pupils with special educational needs without a school.

The DA said Nokuthula LSEN School for pupils with special educational needs is at risk of being demolished if the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development and Property Management (DID) cannot have the building plans approved and cannot obtain a permanent occupancy certificate.

DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Infrastructure Development Nico de Jager said parents and pupils will be inconvenienced by the demolition of the school, which cost R300 million to build.

“This will be a serious inconvenience for parents and learners who will now have to wait many years for the school to be rebuilt and will have to find an alternative school for their children. Having a school that caters to the needs of our children who may have learning difficulties is extremely important if we want to ensure that all our children are given a fair chance to learn,” said De Jager.

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De Jager said in terms of the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) Planning Department, building plans must be approved before the project may start.

He said while the department claims that building plans were submitted in 2021, the city has no record of the plans being submitted, and the committee is waiting for a copy of the invoice.

“The MEC for Infrastructure Development and Property Management, Tasneem Motara, has since failed to produce proof that all the documentation was submitted to CoJ.”

De Jager said during a recent committee meeting, it came to light that there is rising damp which is damaging the school buildings.

“The redesign of the stormwater system and a geotechnical investigation should be done. This is to ascertain and verify whether the building is ready for occupation. It would appear as if the DID is now operating in reverse and trying to fix horrendous errors that should not have been made in the first place, had an Environmental Impact Assessment been done before the school was built.”

De Jager said his party will be demanding answers through the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to determine why millions of rands in taxpayers’ money has been wasted on a school that is needed in Gauteng and that is now at risk of being demolished.

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