School desks worth millions unused

MILLIONS of rands' worth of school furniture lies in storage around the province, while thousands of school children use makeshift tables as desks and empty paint tins as chairs.

Fourteen school furniture suppliers and manufacturers were awarded more than R46.6-million worth of tenders to supply hundreds of Eastern Cape schools with school furniture within three days in March. The tenders were awarded just two days before the provincial government closed its books for the 2013-14 financial year.

On a tour of warehouses in Mthatha, Dimbaza, Mdantsane and Port St Johns, a Times Media team discovered thousands of partially assembled desks.

The desks were delivered this way because the timeframe given to the manufacturers was too short. They remain this way, because, should the Education Department assemble them, they will lose their guarantee.

"Because the financial year was closing and the department stood a chance of losing the funds meant for furniture, a quick arrangement was done," a source claimed.

Last month, the Mthatha High Court ordered the provincial Education Department to provide every public school in the province with adequate school furniture before May 31.

Education Department spokesman Loyiso Pulumani confirmed components were delivered at warehouses within district offices, instead of complete desks.

"Due to time constraints and the financial year coming to an end we had to issue orders so that invoicing could also be processed." He said the department fully intended complying with the spirit and expectations of the court order. - Mphumzi Zuzile