R82m school remains unoccupied because it was built on wetland — committee

Stagnant water with a pungent smell, cracked walls and floors and unkempt grass.

This is what greets you when you enter an R82m school which has not been occupied because it was built on a wetland and is therefore unsafe. The Gauteng department of infrastructure cannot obtain a certificate of occupation.

Mayibuye Primary in Tembisa on Gauteng's East Rand has turned into a white elephant that has left the portfolio committee on infrastructure raging and seeking accountability.

MPLs are leading an inspection of the property on Tuesday.

The committee said in a statement ahead of the visit that it is considering laying criminal charges against the provincial department of infrastructure development and property management (IDPM) officials and a contractor involved in the construction.

“The committee is consulting the legislature’s legal team to ascertain the legalities of such a move,” the chairperson of the portfolio committee on infrastructure development, Mpho Modise, said in a statement, reports SAGovNews.

The government news agency said a joint meeting of the legislature’s portfolio committees on infrastructure development and property management and education on Thursday agreed that a letter should be written to premier David Makhura to request that he institute an investigation that will lead to disciplinary action against officials who were responsible for overseeing the construction of the school.

Modise said the infrastructure development committee had established that the school was constructed in contravention of the National Building Regulations and Building Standard Act.

The committee believes occupancy of the school might be a death trap to pupils and educators, as the wetland has the possibility to weaken the building structure, which might collapse on those occupying it.

“This might leave the government with only two options — of spending more millions remedying the situation or demolishing the building, as it is deemed dangerous for occupation, and to avoid the building being used as a haven for criminals or illegal land invaders. This would mean that the millions of rand invested in the construction of the school has gone to waste,” Modise said.

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