Heavy rain damages 76 Mpumalanga schools

Heavy rainfall has damaged 76 school buildings across Mpumalanga, the education department said on Friday.

"The department is concerned about the persistent rain. There are at least 76 damaged schools around the province, with Ehlanzeni being the most affected region," said spokesman Jasper Zwane, a Sapa correspondent reported.

Fifty-four of the schools were damaged in December.

Zwane said this number might double if the rain did not abate. He was unable to state how much it would cost to repair the schools, but said repairs could only start with the new financial year in April 2014.

The department had exhausted its infrastructure budget of R586 million for the 2013/2014 financial year, said Zwane.

The money was spent on 11 new schools, and also to complete the construction of eight other schools, including two boarding schools in Amsterdam and Belfast.

"This means that the department can only solicit funding to repair or replace the damaged structures in April 2014," he said.