ATC151013: Report of the Select Committee on Appropriations on the oversight visit to Education Infrastructure Grant Projects in Kwazulu-Natal Province, Dated 13 October 2015

NCOP Appropriations

REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS ON THE OVERSIGHT VISIT TO EDUCATION INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT PROJECTS IN KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCE, DATED 13 OCTOBER 2015
 

  1. Introduction

The Select Committee on Appropriations (the Committee) resolved to convene public hearings on conditional grant expenditure reports and conduct oversight visits to identified projects in provinces. The first province that the Committee of the 5th Parliament decided to visit was KwaZulu-Natal. The Committee requested the national Department of Basic Education, the provincial Department of Education and National Treasury to make oral and written submissions on the KwaZulu-Natal School Infrastructure Backlogs Grant and the Education Infrastructure Grant financial and non-financial reports as at 31 December 2014. The meeting to receive the submissions was convened on Tuesday, 02 June 2015. There were no School Infrastructure Backlogs Grant projects in KwaZulu-Natal and based on that, the Committee focused on the Education Infrastructure Grant.        

The purpose of the Education Infrastructure Grant is to help accelerate construction, maintenance, upgrading and rehabilitation of new and existing infrastructure in education; to enhance the capacity to deliver infrastructure in education; and to address damage to infrastructure caused by natural disasters. The key deliverables of the Education Infrastructure Grant funding are to ensure that -

  • New Schools are built;
  • Additional equipment and furniture are provided;
  • New and existing schools are maintained; and
  • Existing education infrastructure is upgraded and rehabilitated.

 

For the KwaZulu-Natal oversight visit, the Committee’s focus was on the first two key deliverables – building of new schools and the supply of new equipment/furniture.

 

  1. Terms of Reference

The Committee was established in terms of section 4(3) of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, No 9 of 2009. In terms of section 4(4) of this Act, the Committee has the powers and functions conferred to it by the Constitution, legislation, the standing rules or a resolution of a House, including considering and reporting on:

  1. Spending issues;
  2. Amendments to the Division of Revenue Bill, the Appropriation Bill, Supplementary Appropriations Bill and Adjustment Appropriations Bill;
  3. Recommendations of the Financial and Fiscal Commission, including those referred to in the Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Act, No. 97 of 1997;
  4. Reports on actual expenditure published by the National Treasury; and
  5. Any other related matter set out in this Act.

 

Furthermore, the mandate of the Committee encompasses its functions to legislate, conduct oversight of the Executive; promote public participation, facilitate international agreements and review matters of public interest in relation to the National Treasury.  

  1. Purpose of KwaZulu-Natal oversight visit

The purpose of the oversight visit was to assess the appropriateness of the newly built education infrastructure, that is, is it fit for the purpose in terms of -

  1. Adequate number of classrooms;
  2. Appropriate and functional sanitation facilities;
  3. The provision of kitchen facilities  in terms of the National School Nutrition Programme Grant requirements (that includes a hygienic kitchen facility) to produce and dispense food to learners;
  4. Appropriate and adequate provision of furniture and equipment;
  5. The existence of technical workshops and computer rooms; and
  6. The existence of sport facilities.

Furthermore, the Committee intended to assess whether the provincial Department of Education had a maintenance plan in place for the infrastructure delivered, to ensure that the lifespan of the infrastructure was extended and used to its optimal capacity.

 

  1. Objectives

The objectives of the oversight visit were to:

  1. Assess the status of the projects funded by the Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) ;
  2. Ascertain whether projects were in line with business plans;
  3. Appreciate the service delivery initiatives and implementation thereof; and
  4.  Assess if the expenditure reports received were a true reflection of projects status.

 

  1. Methodology of assessing financial expenditure and service delivery

The methodology applied was conducting hearings on both financial and non-financial performance of the Education Infrastructure Grant and also conducting an oversight visit to specific projects to assess the value for the money spent.

 

  1. Hearings:  
    1. Financial Performance

For the Education Infrastructure Grant, the KwaZulu-Natal Province was allocated R1.385 781 billion for the 2014/15 financial year and all funds were spent as at the end of the financial year.

On average, Education Infrastructure Grant spending as of 31 March 2015 was 93 per cent and KwaZulu-Natal was among the well spending provinces at 99.7 per cent.

 

  1. Non-financial performance

The two new schools built by the KwaZulu-Natal Province are a good investment for the country. The two schools were built based on national norms and standards. The province utilised the KZN Coega Development Corporation as an implementing agent and Mageba Projects cc as a contractor. The Department of Education in the KwaZulu-Natal Province showed smooth implementation of school construction projects. The province utilised two well established implementing agents, the Independent Development Trust and Coega Development Corporation. A number of temporary jobs were created, and beneficiaries included women, youth and men. The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Education showed a huge jump in project completion from 93 and 94 in the first and second quarters of 2014/15 to 507 during the third quarter. The province completed about 694 projects in the 2014/15 financial year.

 

  1. Oversight visits
    1. Mgezeni Technical High School

On Monday, 17 August 2015, the Committee conducted a site visit to Mgezeni Technical High School project where brief presentations were made by the Provincial Department of Education, the Independent Development Trust and the National Department of Basic Education.

  1. Background

The school started operating as Madlazini Intermediate School in 1977. The school had to cater for the community which was forcefully removed from Madlazini, now known as Richards Bay. It was reported that the school started operating under a tree and on rainy days, the classes were accommodated in a rondavel of Mr Nicholas Mthiyane who was the founder of the school assisted by the late Mrs Sibeko. The government later built proper school buildings. In 1993, the school seperated the primary school section from the secondary school section. The primary retained the name Madlanzini and the secondary was named Mgezeni High School, after one of the forefathers of Inkosi M Mthiyane. At the time of the visit, the enrolment was 1456 learners and there were 51 educators. 

 The school is located in Ntambanana Local Municipality within the uThungulu District Municipality. The construction started on 23 March 2014 and was scheduled for completion on 4 March 2016. The scope of the work was to build  30 standard classrooms (double and single storey); four multi purpose centres; four HOD offices; one hospitality centre (kitchen and restaurant); two male and female free standing toilet blocks; two male and female toilet blocks attached to classrooms; one male and female change room; three technical workshops; one administration block; one guard block; one bin area; two combi courts; one large athletic/soccer field, 39 staff parking spaces, sewer treatment, a storm water reservoir, and a 1000m³ domestic water tank which serves as a fire line. The tank is fed from a borehole and a water treatment plant was provided on site.

The Mgezeni Technical High School project was being financed through the Education  Infrastructure Grant. The project was projected to cost R100.7 million of which R79.3 million is construction cost while R16.6 million is professional fees and disbursements. At the time of reporting, the overall progress was reported to be 95 per cent. The building work was reported to be 100 per cent complete, electrical work was at 85 per cent and civil work was at 70 per cent.

The major challenge of the project was water and electricity which were yet to be connected. But a borehole has been sunk to relieve the water shortage.  

  1. Nature and status of project

The Mgezeni Technical High School project was a newly built school project. This project was started on 03 March 2014 and the planned completion date was 04 March 2016. The project is expected to be completed within 24 months. At the time of the visit, the overall progress on this project was 95 per cent complete.

  1. iTshelimnyama Primary School

On Thursday, 20 August 2015, the Committee conducted a site visit to iTshelimnyama Primary School project where brief presentations were made by the Provincial Department of Education, and the Coega Development Corporation. The Committee then conducted an inspection in-loco of the project.

  1. Background

iTshelimnyama Primary School is situated in Umlazi Towship within the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. The iTshelimnyama Primary School project commenced on 26 October 2011 and was supposed to be completed on the 17th April 2014. It took 30 months to complete instead of 18 months. The project was allocated R28.6 million for the building of 21 standard classrooms; three multi-purpose centres; three Grade R classrooms; laboratories and specialist rooms; one media centre; one medical centre; one team teaching room; one computer room; eight offices; six store rooms, one strong room,one school nutrition programme kitchen, 14 girls toilet seats, 10 boys toilet seats and urinal spaces, six teachers toilet seats and two disabled toilets. At the time of the visit, the project was 97 per cent complete and ready for occupation.

The project was experiencing a problem with unresolved land ownership which delayed the connection of municipal services to the school. This challenge led to the completed structure lying unoccupied and it was then vandalised. At the time of reporting, the contractor was on site repairing the damage which created additional costs for the project.

  1. Nature and status of project

This project was a new project of which construction commenced on 26 October 2011 and ended on 17 April 2015. The project was scheduled to be completed in 18 months, but it took 30 months due to a land ownership dispute. The dispute is yet to be settled, but legal advisors of the department are still negotiating with the owners of the site where the school has been built. The other group that was claiming ownership had lost a High Court case and an interdict was issued against the group because they were opposing the opening of the school.

After the project was completed, the school was left unoccupied and it was vandalised. However, the department and the contractors fixed it and now the school is ready for occupation. The first group that was reportedly to be enrolled on Monday, 24 August 2015, were Grade R learners.

  1. Committee findings and observations

During the hearings and the inspections in-loco, the Committee observed the following:

  1. Financial performance
    1. The province’s equitable share allocation is about R550 million against its grant allocations of R1.3 billion as compared to Gauteng’s R1.6 billion equitable share allocation against its R935 million grant allocations. The province however receives the second biggest allocations compared to other provinces.
    2. The 99.7 per cent Education Infrastructure Grant spending is in line with the 694 projects that were completed.
    3. The financial performance with respect to the Education Infrastructure Grant programme was very impressive, especially considering the standard of school projects that had been constructed.   

 

  1. Non-financial performance
    1. The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Education showed a huge jump in project completion from 93 and 94 in the first and second quarters of 2014/15 to 507 during the third quarter. The province completed about 694 projects in the 2014/15 financial year.
    2. About 3885 schools in KwaZulu-Natal have a shortage of school furniture while it is reported that there is no budget allocation for school furniture in the province.

 

  1. Site Visits
    1. Mgezeni Technical High School
      1. The Mgezeni Technical High School project looked good as it was being built according   to the Basic Education national norms and standards.
      2. All project specifications of the Mgezeni Technical High School project were adhered to and the project was 95 per cent complete at the time of the visit.
      3. The project was ahead of schedule as confirmed by the implementing agent (the Independent Development Trust) and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education. The contractors were still busy on site at the time of the visit.
      4. The department was in the process of recruiting more educators for specific subject fields.
      5. A total of 100 temporal jobs were created which included youth, women, men and disabled people. 
      6. Due to the lack of water and the drought, the province and the contractor agreed to sink a borehole which will pump one million litters of water into the reservoir. This was an addition to project specifications but there were no added costs as contingency funds were utilised.

 

  1. iTshelimnyama Primary School
    1. The iTshelimnyama Primary School project specifications did not include the construction of a sports fields for the school. The land where the school has been built did not have enough space to construct fields and the terrain is not flat. However, a playing area for Grade R leaners had been constructed.  
    2. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education constructed the iTshelimnyama Primary School on a piece of land that had two claimants to its ownership.  
    3. At the time of the visit, the land ownership matter had not been finalised since the department was yet to financially compensate the group that a court of law had declared the rightful owners.
    4.  The school was vandalised because it was left unoccupied after completion due to the court challenge on the land ownership. However, everything that was vandalised had been fixed by the contractors at the cost of R600 000.00.
    5. All learners who had applied for enrolment live close to the school and they will not require scholar transport.
    6. Until January 2016, the learners will get their feeding scheme share from the nearby school that they were enrolled in previously. The school will deliver the food daily.
    7. At the time of the visit, the fixing of the snag-list had not been finalised.  

 

  1. Committee Recommendations

Based on the above observations, the Committee recommends as follows:

  1. Financial performance
    1. There is a need for the province to allocate additional funds from the equitable share for its grant projects since conditional grant allocations are meant only to supplement the funding of programmes and functions funded from provincial budgets. Both National Treasury and Provincial Treasury should on a regular basis monitor and support the province to ensure its compliance.
    2. There is an urgent need to assess the monetary value of the school furniture shortage in the province and also to ensure steps are taken to remedy the situation. The Provincial Department of Education should, within three months after the adoption of this Report by the House, report to the Committee on any progress made to alleviate the school furniture shortage in the province.

 

  1. Site Visits
    1. Mgezeni Technical High School
      1. The Committee found the Mgezeni project delivery model a model of good practice. The province should consider using the Mgezeni project delivery model for other similar projects in the province.
    2. iTshelimnyama Primary School
      1. The provincial Department of Education should speedily finalise the land evaluation process and compensate the trustees of the land where the school has been built. The compensation value should have been included in the agreement signed with the first group of trustees.
      2. Sports fields should be considered as a phase two of the project.  
      3. The provincial Department of Education should further report to the Committee, within three months after the adoption of this Report by the House, on the source of funding for the repairs of the damage caused by vandalism.

Report to be considered.

 

 

 

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