Minister Gwarube tackles urgent school infrastructure delays in South Africa
Image: Department of Basic Education South Africa / Facebook
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube attributed delays in improving school infrastructure, such as pit latrines in provinces like KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, to severe weather, the construction mafia, and underperforming contractors.
Gwarube was responding to a parliamentary question from the MK Party's Pinky Pearlgene Mngadi.
Mngadi noted that the department's 2025 Annual Performance Plan indicates that there are over 13.5 million pupils and nearly 460,000 teachers in the public and independent schools of the Republic, the majority of which suffer from poor infrastructure, including pit latrines, particularly in provinces like KZN and the Eastern Cape.
She asked Gwarube about how she justifies the continued delays in eradicating the specified unsafe conditions which put the health and safety of learners at daily risk.
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In her response, Gwarube explained that of the 3,372 sanitation projects initially identified under the Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) initiative as being reliant on basic pit toilets, 3,265 schools have already been provided with safe and age-appropriate sanitation facilities.
'Construction at the remaining 106 schools is currently under way and is expected to be completed within the 2025/26 financial year,' Gwarube said.
She also said that while significant progress has been made through the SAFE initiative, the persistent presence of pit latrine toilets underscores the complexity of addressing public school infrastructure backlogs in a sector that has historically faced underinvestment, competing budgetary demands, and implementation challenges at the provincial level.
'The reasons for delays include inclement weather, with various parts of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal experiencing heavy rains, leading to flooding and rural roads being washed away, activities of the construction mafia, and instances of poor contractor performance,' Gwarube said.
The minister explained that the School Infrastructure Backlogs Grant (SIBG), which funds the SAFE initiative, will be phased out at the end of the 2025/26 financial year. Therefore, all remaining sanitation projects outside of the SAFE initiative are being integrated into provincial project pipelines and funded through the Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG).
'While this reform improves funding alignment, it reduces the Department of Basic Education's ability to directly influence infrastructure delivery, placing greater responsibility on Provincial Education Departments (PEDs),' Gwarube said.
'In this regard, the process to review the Regulations Relating to Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure has commenced, with the aim of ensuring clearer mandates, stronger oversight provisions, and more effective delivery frameworks.'
Gwarube added that the department has launched the Safe Schools App, a digital platform developed and donated by Vodacom South Africa, to support efforts at the provincial level and enhance transparency.
'The app empowers users, including parents, teachers, and community members, to report unsafe toilet facilities in schools, monitor progress on their removal, and provide real-time feedback. This crowdsourced data allows PEDs and the DBE to better plan, prioritise and fund sanitation projects,' Gwarube said.
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