Infrastructure Development

Infrastructure Development

The Northern Cape Department of Education has achieved all targets relating to providing basic services, including water, sanitation, and power supply (electricity) in terms of actual access to services as articulated in the Regulations Relating to Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure. The Department does not form part of the SAFE Initiative as there are currently no schools in the Northern Cape with only PIT Latrines; all schools have been provided with either VIP toilets, EnviroLoo’s or Flush Toilets.

The Department, however, focuses on upgrading these basic services and increasing the reliability as a Second-Line Priority. An audit on sanitation facilities revealed that the NCDoE requires an additional 2 321 regular toilets and 1 303 Grade R toilets to comply with the prescribed learner to toilet ratio. The ramping up of Grade R and RR is likely to substantially increase this number as the NCDoE takes over the administration of ECD from the Department of Social Development.

The Northern Cape currently have 43 schools classified as entirely Inappropriate Structures; this includes schools located in the Asbestos Belt, where these schools will have to be relocated, and an additional 46 schools classified as partial Inappropriate Structures, where these structures and roofs also have to be replaced. An estimated budget of R3.85 billion will be needed to complete these 89 schools, and the Department, however, will attempt to prioritise two replacements of inappropriate structures each financial year.

The need for additional ordinary classrooms and Grade R Classrooms is evident in schools experiencing overcrowding and where schools utilize mobile classrooms that were provided as a short- and medium-term solution. The provisioning of new ordinary classrooms and Grade R Classrooms and the replacement of mobile classrooms currently in the system significantly impact the prioritization and budgeting processes. In line with this, several new schools are also planned in areas where high learner enrollment is evident; this includes but is not limited to towns such as Kimberley, Kuruman and Upington.

Infrastructure within the province is in a fair to poor condition; various schools consist of old, outdated and under-maintained infrastructure, resulting in high maintenance costs. The Department prioritized the maintenance of school facilities as a whole instead of maintaining as emergency or just portions of a school, thus resulting in the maintenance plan that can be implemented every seven years. Schools are encouraged and recommended to utilize their school maintenance allocation.

Other examples of priorities competing for the infrastructure budget are introducing special schools to districts with none, specialized rooms such as Science Laboratories, Media Centres, Computer Classrooms and Libraries, Nutrition Centres and the need for security infrastructure (e.g. fencing) due to high vandalism rates.

NATURE OF INVESTMENT BREAKDOWN	TOTAL NUMBER OF PROJECTS 23/24 MTEF	BUDGET 2023/24	BUDGET 2024/25	BUDGET 2025/26
MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS	261	R290 947 365	R58 226 311	R68 538 892
NEW OR REPLACED INFRASTRUCTURE	38	R189 116 799	R289 429 731	R421 156 758
NON-INFRASTRUCTURE	11	R59 945 951	R35 000 000	R36 810 407
REHABILITATION, RENOVATIONS & REFURBISHMENT	15	R39 424 214	R35 684 924	R6 814 375
UPGRADING AND ADDITIONS	160	R131 314 670	R216 546 035	R130 009 569
LEASES	2	R6 500 000
Grand Total	487	R717 249 000	R634 887 000	R663 330 000