MEC Pillay Responded To the Needs of Gelykwater Primary School (isiZulu)
Story and pictures by Vusi Shabalala
MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works, Mr Ravi Pillay conducted ‘walkabouts’ during the
Amajuba District Municipality’s OSS Cabinet Day on Wednesday 30 January 2019. The aim of such
activity was to be first-hand with and amongst the people, talk and listen to them, take their wishes,
compliments and concerns. One of his visit was at the Gelykwater Primary School that is located at
Emgundeni rural area of the KwaMabaso Tribal Authority headed by Inkosi Zwelihle Mabaso in Ward1B
of Emadlangeni Local Municipality.
Gelykwater Primary School is an ordinary public school located in a rural or farm area of Utrecht, within
Emadlangeni. Ms Thulile Makhubu, the school’s Principal was quite excited and appreciative to host Mr
Pillay and his entourage. She heads a school that boasts 4 staff officials (with one practitioner and three
educators), one non-staff member and 74 learners. It is also worth praising that the school collected a
100% pass rate during the 2018 academic results. The current registration stands at 34 girls and 40
boys, with Learner Profile Grade standing from Grade R to Grade 7.
Above: MEC Ravi Pillay MPL with Ms Thulile Makhubu, the School Principal
The building infrastructure of the school consists of four classrooms with the Principal’s office and a
donated park home that is used for Nutrition Kitchen Service and four pit toilets. The building walls
have visible cracks; evidently, it is quite an old structure. This may be caused by changes in ambient
moisture levels and different expansion coefficients between mortar plaster, stones and concrete.
There are four pit latrines and one is shared amongst the educators. This experience was a heartrending and upsetting situation. Nonetheless, MEC Pillay could not pretend or rather ignore the
situation. He immediately personally committed for a complete construction of two new toilets for the
educators. The commitment is immediately effective. In addition to the good news is that Ms Makhubu,
the educators and leaners boast existence of a school’s borehole project, which was constructed on 23
May 2016 by the KZN Public Works’ Amajuba District Office at an approved budget of approximately
R161 300.00.
One of the strongest points of Operation Sukuma Sakhe (OSS) is the provincial government’s
engagement with communities. During the community engagement session, the platform assisted the
leadership in understanding the crucial socio-economic pressures that affect the KwaMabaso residents.
Most concerns that were thorny include scholar transport for most learners, electricity, water and
sanitation projects for households and road infrastructure.
Morning Prayer session at the Gelykwater school’s assembly
Notwithstanding the availability of real statistics, the community’s levels of satisfaction depend more on factors such as speed, process, channel preference, access to information and value for money. A better understanding of the peoples’ needs and preferences allows the Provincial Government and Departments to tailor and optimise their service provisioning. Understanding the speed and cost of different delivery times enables departments to redesign services to increase user satisfaction within existing budget. It also allows departments facing fiscal constraints to decide whether to close down expensive legacy services or channels with limited demand or impact. It is worth praising that MEC Pillay’s visit has had tremendous impact because he responded positively to the needs of Gelykwater Primary School.