Thubelihle high school still not refurbished five years later

The Gauteng department of education (GDE) allocated R12 million five years ago to have the Thubelihle High School in Soweto refurbished, but the agent hired to implement the renovations at the school has not finished as required by the GDE.

The money was allocated through the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (GDID). 

GDE said it understands the parents’ frustration of the prolonged refurbishing of the school, according to a statement they released.

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DID to appoint new contractor

“We share parent’s frustration and call upon DID to fast track the process of appointing a new contractor after terminating the current one,” read the statement.

While the department hires a new contractor to resume the project, they added that they will provide mobile classrooms.

“These mobile units are expected to be delivered in June 2022 as procurement processes are at an advanced stage to ensure that learning continues at the school,” the statement read.

School resumes on Friday

The school governing body has allowed the school to resume from Friday while the DID sorts the contractor issues.

“We are really disappointed that the project that started five years ago is still not complete. Infrastructure challenges were long identified hence the designated budget and allocation. We hope that DID will complete this project accordingly,” said Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi.

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