Article by Ntokozo Biyela
Images by Nelisiwe Mkhize
The Public Works Portfolio committee visited Siphumelele Primary School located in Inanda, Ezimangweni, ward 107 within the eThekwini Metro municipality on Tuesday, 21 June 2022. The purpose of the visit was to brief the Department of Public Works Portfolio Committee on the status of construction of Siphumelele Primary School and to corroborate the fulfilment of the proposed mandate in line with the department precepts.
The days double session agenda was directed by Honorable Mbali Frazer. The first session of the program saw the committee meeting ahead of the second session which had the departmental briefing, discussion and site viewing.
The Regional Director Mr. Gabriel Blose, who presented the briefing breakdown gave clarity on where the project stands as it only has a few more months remaining to the agreed-upon contractual agreements to completion. The projects’ goal is to provide a “modern school” for learners living within Inanda township, but the goal goes beyond the school being upgraded as the department continues to be the agent of choice. Public Works is continuously working hard to provide trusted infrastructure development and in addition makes it a point to create more work opportunities for the community.
The progress on site for this R28 790 753.00 project stands at 87% complete and had an original completion date of 7 July 2022 which has been revised to 13 September 2022. With three months left on the project the department has an expenditure of R26 298 511,73. The project scope consists of the construction of 21 new classrooms, for Grade R classes, one computer room, one media centre with a smart board, one science laboratory, an administration block with seven offices, seven storerooms, a kitchen, ablution facilities with 34 seats, a guard house, fence, repairs and renovations to the existing buildings.
During the discussion, the panel stressed on the importance of fulfilling community benefits of the project and the subcontracting opportunities as the numbers for the overall targets for the project stand at 90 and the EPWP employed 53 to date which converts to 59%. Woman employment had a target of 30 and has 12 to date whereas youth employment to target was proposed at 40 and has 19 youth employed to date, people with disabilities were targeted at two for the project and has zero to date. The subcontracting opportunities per target group which were woman subcontractors is at 5%, youth subcontractors at 5%, and military veterans is at 10%. The subcontracting achieved to date stands at 20%.
The project implementation challenges were noted with the first one being working while teaching and learning is in progress. This came as a high concern to the committee and was commended greatly as they are complying with the safety and security measures and there are contingency plans in place for incidents that could be detrimental to the lives of the very young scholars. With COVID-19 restrictions, the site operates on a 60% workforce which contributed to the project’s delays.
Although the targeted numbers for employment and progress were lower than expected, they are happy with the schools Governing Body as it is female-headed and set precedent to how the workplace roles should be played. This was especially highlighted by the committee who wishes to see more of women in the work forces and women getting the same work opportunities as men.
The continuation of the said Public Works motto “Building communities through construction and growing Kwa-Zulu Natal together” stays being practiced through these empowering projects that seek to leave a better social environment.
