Officials promise action during Jubilee Park school oversight visit

One by one, officials and politicians filed into Jubilee Park Primary School on Wednesday — something the teachers had been begging them to do for weeks.

First was the provincial chief engineer of the department of education, Yanga Tekane.

Tekane said he had first become aware of Jubilee Park’s plight last week  and he was there to establish a way forward for the school.

He said he would write a recommendation to the education department’s  portfolio committee to make Jubilee Park a priority when it came to building projects.

Though the contractor was not on site, Tekane said his contract was still valid.

He said that though the department of public works was in charge of the project, it was within his purvey to recommend the fast-tracking of the project.

Tekane said he would be pushing Jubilee Park’s case to ensure that the school was completed as soon as possible.

DA MP Yusuf Cassim and provincial legislature representatives Vicky Knoetze and Marshall von Buchenroder conducted an oversight visit at Jubilee Park, where Cassim said the DA would hold those responsible for the completion of the school accountable.

“This visit does not happen in isolation, this visit is part of a larger programme of the DA.

“From when schools open, we have embarked on a school readiness oversight inspection programme in the province — to ensure that our children are receiving the best possible access to education,” Cassim said.

The delegation had visited more than 100 schools since the programme started.

The school’s education development officer, Pierre Strydom, was also at the school as part of the district department of education’s school readiness programme.

Strydom said the situation at Jubilee Park was stressful.

“The school principal spent his December holiday in the hospital, and I can tell you now it is because of this.

“I myself am getting a heart condition just looking at what is happening to taxpayers’ money,” he said.

Strydom said  he did not want the school to be involved in a political tug-of-war and  if the DA delegation could help that would be great.

Public works spokesperson Vuyokazi Mbanjwa said representatives from the department, together with the department of education, would visit the school on Thursday.

She said the delay in completion of the school was due to late and/or non-payment of the contractor by the department of education.

“This has caused the contractor to abandon the site,” she said, adding that the school was now 90% complete.

Mbanjwa said the work that still needed to be done included a parking area, road surfacing, the installation of poles on the sports field, the demolition of existing ablution facilities, finishing the exterior of the building and the removal of prefabricated structures.