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Only one state school built in 2024 – DBE's alarming infrastructure performance revealed

Only one state school built in 2024 – DBE's alarming infrastructure performance revealed
A primary school classroom with no roof and broken windows in Ndzalama, Limpopo. (Photo: Julia Chaskalson)
Takudzwa Pongweni
By Takudzwa Pongweni
5 Dec 2024
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The Department of Basic Education built only one school this year, leaving critical infrastructure backlogs unaddressed in provinces such as Eastern Cape and Limpopo. Budget cuts, mismanagement and capacity issues continue to undermine efforts to improve school conditions, while overcrowded classrooms and pit latrines remain the norm in many areas. Experts warn that without urgent intervention, achieving the 2030 infrastructure goals is unlikely.

Despite having set a target of building six new schools for the past financial year, the national Department of Basic Education (DBE) managed to construct only one and did not build or replace any schools in Eastern Cape, Free State, Limpopo, or North West. 

This represents a substantial decline from a decade ago, when, in the 2014/15 financial year, the DBE completed 32 schools in the Eastern Cape, 24 in Gauteng, 19 in Mpumalanga, 12 in KwaZulu-Natal and 13 in Limpopo.

Provincial basic education departments fared better.

The Western Cape provincial government recorded the highest number of schools built or renovated in the last financial year, with 39 projects completed, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with three and Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape, each completing one school.

These figures were disclosed by the department’s director-general, Mathanzima Mweli, during a parliamentary select committee meeting, which focused on school infrastructure projects, including those for children with special needs.

Budget cuts to blame 


Dilapidated school building in Eastern Cape. The Mcheni Junior Secondary School in Eastern Cape. (Photo: Supplied)



In side a ruined classroom at a Limpopo school. Broken and falling ceiling boards, exposed electrical wiring and broken chairs litter a primary school classroom in Ndzalama, Limpopo. (Photo: Julia Chaskalson)



A school with no roof and broken windows A primary school classroom with no roof and broken windows in Ndzalama, Limpopo. (Photo: Julia Chaskalson)



The DBE acknowledged in its annual report that the target for the number of new schools built and completed through the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (Asidi) was not met.

Launched in 2011 to address critical infrastructure gaps in schools, the programme focuses on replacing schools built with inadequate materials, such as mud, providing reliable water and sanitation and ensuring access to electricity in schools lacking these basic services.

The target was missed owing to delays in contracting service providers, which were required to comply with cost-containment measures outlined in a National Treasury letter, as well as subsequent in-year budget cuts.

The department also noted that the School Infrastructure Backlog Grant (SIBG) faced a reduction of R179.8-million, affecting the completion of planned projects. These projects will now be carried over to the next financial year, with implementation contingent on the availability of funds.

Read more: Basic education budget cuts ‘exacerbate inequalities and undermine right to education’ – civil society groups

Matshidiso Lencoasa, a budget analyst at public interest law centre Section27, said budget cuts did play a significant role in the department's inability to build schools, adding the performance and capacity of the department to build schools was deeply concerning. 

“Even though one school has been built, it was actually against the target of 30 this year, which was then revised down to six, which is just really, really disappointing,” she said.

Streamlining or stumbling? The merger of grants and provincial challenges


Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement in October that the Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) and the SIBG will be merged. Infrastructure funding will now be managed provincially instead of directly by the DBE, aiming to streamline spending and enhance impact.

Lencoasa explained that there were critical systemic issues within the SIBG programme. The indirect grant which funds Asidi has historically low spending rates and has been criticised for its use of implementing agents rather than state departments to carry out the infrastructure projects, resulting in increased costs for middle-men, without correlating results. 

“Unfortunately, this grant hasn’t been performing well, which is reflective of the capacity of the national department administering infrastructure, rather than it being allocated and spent by provinces. But then it’s also complicated, because provinces also do have capacity issues,” she said. 

Read more: Minister Siviwe Gwarube looks to February Budget to avert basic education funding crisis

Provinces have shown to be better at spending the EIG than the national department, but the merger could still be a problem. Provinces such as the Western Cape and Gauteng excel at utilising their infrastructure budgets effectively because they have the capacity and systems in place to ensure better consequence management, preventing underspending and wasteful expenditure. 

“Those happen to be the more well-resourced provinces, but there are other provinces which also need infrastructure intervention, where pit latrines remain a norm, like in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape. They don’t have quite the same capacity as the Western Cape and Gauteng. Historically, Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape have had to return money back to the national department because they haven’t spent it, so they lack capacity to spend it,” Lencoasa said.

What often happens is that the department reallocates those funds to other provinces that are better equipped to spend the money, as they aim to avoid budget cuts. However, without proper intervention, issues with provincial infrastructure delivery persist. These challenges don’t disappear simply because the national department couldn’t spend the allocated funds, she added.

The merger of the two grants introduces new challenges for the DBE, which will now assume a more significant oversight role. Equal Education (EE) researcher Kimberley Khumalo said transferring direct administrative responsibility to provincial education departments, some of which are under-resourced and known for slow progress, demands an evidence-based approach that proves their ability to effectively address these long-standing infrastructure issues. 

In the previous financial year, the DBE was allocated R2-billion for the SIBG and R12.2-billion for the EIG. However, during the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, the National Treasury revealed that Cabinet-approved cuts of R1.2-billion to the SIBG and R611-million to the EIG would result in delays for projects still in the planning phase, in order to prioritise the completion of those already under way.

Provincial underspending on infrastructure continues to be a significant concern. In the 2023/24 financial year, Limpopo was allocated R1.5-billion but had spent only 41% by mid-November. Meanwhile, in Eastern Cape, 70% of its R1.8-billion budget had been spent. 

Lencoasa said chronic underspending speaks to a lack of capacity in provinces. 

“Especially provinces that are more impoverished or more rural; they struggle. They don’t have the systems or the resources to actually spend the money effectively so in those provinces we also see high rates of wasteful fruitless expenditure,” she said. 

To address these challenges, it is crucial to strengthen state capacity. One approach is to provide targeted workshops and training for provincial officials, ensuring they are well-equipped to manage contracts effectively and ethically, including those involving incidents and agents.

Another key solution is investing in robust consequence management systems. This would ensure that underspending or mismanagement is met with appropriate interventions and penalties, discouraging a culture where such practices become the norm, Lencoasa said.

Mweli said the department would continue reallocating funds from provinces that fail to effectively utilise their budgets. He explained that the EIG is no longer facing the same struggles as before, and if provinces do not spend their allocated funds, those funds will be redirected to provinces that are in urgent need.

Khumalo expressed similar views, noting that while the performance of the EIG has improved over time, some provinces – particularly rural ones like Eastern Cape and Limpopo – continue to face challenges in effectively using their allocations. She pointed out that these provinces often cite a lack of capacity as a key reason for their struggles

Setbacks in addressing overcrowded classrooms 


Efforts to tackle overcrowded classrooms have also faced setbacks. The department launched a programme to construct additional classrooms, but budget cuts led to the suspension of many of these initiatives.

Mweli explained that the department initially aimed to address overcrowding at 30 schools, but owing to budget reductions, funding was cut, and they had to halt some projects. As a result, this financial year, only one school will be addressed.

A report released by EE in 2023, titled Schooling under Unusual Conditions: Research into how school infrastructure shapes teaching and learning in SA, highlighted the critical role that physical school conditions, including overcrowding, play in impacting educational outcomes. The report examined the relationship between infrastructure and learning, focusing on factors such as classroom size and teaching quality. It found that overcrowding is a major contributor to low attendance rates and significantly affects both teacher motivation and the quality of teaching.

Read more: SA schools still plagued by ‘historical infrastructure backlogs’, overcrowding – Equal Education report

The total 2024 infrastructure budget (combining the EIG and SIBG) of R14.95-billion is insufficient to provide the 70,043 additional classrooms needed in 8,133 schools to address overcrowding alone, said EE researcher Mahfouz Raffee and Equal Education Law Centre legal researcher Katherine Sutherland.

Failing infrastructure deadlines undermine the right to education


Khumalo emphasised that the DBE and provincial education departments have a clear constitutional responsibility to ensure access to education and that conducive school environments are essential for fulfilling this right. Despite more than a decade of advocacy by EE and the establishment of a legal framework, the DBE and provincial departments have failed to act swiftly enough to address the ongoing infrastructure crises affecting schools across the country.

The Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure, also known as the school infrastructure law, was introduced in 2013 with specific deadlines for providing essential school infrastructure, including water, sanitation and classrooms, as well as a ban on plain pit toilets in schools.

However, the DBE and provincial departments have missed several of these deadlines and displayed a lack of urgency in addressing infrastructure backlogs. In a disappointing move, the law was reviewed earlier this year, resulting in the removal of all deadlines, Khumalo said. 

In a report to Parliament last year, the DBE estimated that at least R20-billion would be needed annually to eliminate all existing critical infrastructure backlogs by 2030. 

Lencoasa said with the current funding levels, however, the 2030 target is unlikely to be met.

She noted that in the coming years, the Treasury will reduce the budget allocated to the provincial equitable share, which means fewer resources are available to effectively work towards the 2030 goal, let alone fulfil Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube’s commitment to eradicating pit toilets by 2025.

“This is concerning, but of course, it doesn’t have to be that way. We are calling on National Treasury and government to mobilise resources in a way that effectively addresses the concerns and meets those targets that they have made by 2030 so that we can overcome this unequal access to education, where a substantial number of learners are still in classrooms that are built on inappropriate materials,” she said. DM

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