๐๐ผ๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐๐พ ๐๐ฟ๐๐พ๐ผ๐๐๐๐
The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐น๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐จ๐บ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ถ๐ป ๐ง๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ถ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ท๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ฒ๐น๐น ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ. SAFTU wishes these pupils a speedy recovery.
This disgusting state of affairs is allowed to continue in our schools primarily because the basic education system is underfunded. Despite the norms and standards on school infrastructure that they signed into law after being pressured by the lobby groups in the education sector, the government has made little progress in adhering to these standards. Instead, it has been underfunding basic education in general, and defunding the education infrastructure in particular.
The latest report of the National Education Infrastructure Management System (NEIMS) published in 2023 starkly highlighted this crisis. Out of 22 597 public schools in basic education, 635 use generators for electricity. Despite the repeated incidences of learners drowning in faeces at schools in Eastern Cape and Limpopo, 3 932 still use pit toilets; 16 714 are without basic libraries; 18 671 are without laboratories; 14 949 donโt have computer centres and 9 733 are without sports facilities.
Given the 2024/25 Budget Review and the budget projections for the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), there is little hope that school infrastructure will improve. In the MTEF, the National Treasury is not aiming to increase the school infrastructure budget. The school infrastructure backlog will be defunded by a combined R408 million. This is just a nominal decrease, not adjusted for inflation and the population growth rate over the next three financial years. The decline will be far greater when adjusted for population growth and inflation.
SAFTU urges parents through the SGBs to be vigilant and guard the use of the school’s little budget allocations and utilisation of school funds, to ensure that basic maintenance on school infrastructure such as ceiling, roof, windows, and door repairs take place regularly. To this effect, parents must take advantage of the participatory democratic principles provided for by the South African Schools Act to vote for school budgets that prioritise the maintenance and development of the school for the protection and benefit of their children.
