Seven-year delay leaves Birch Acres Primary School unfinished despite urgent need

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01-12-2025
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Kempton Express
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A school meant to help ease pressure on English-medium placements in Thembisa remains unfinished, prompting the DA to question delays and missing funds.

The construction of Birch Acres Primary School in Thembisa was initially scheduled for completion in September 2018 and was expected to open the following year.

However, the school remains incomplete and unoccupied seven years later, despite a growing need for English-medium schooling in the area.

The DA has criticise the delay, calling it a failure of the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE), and has urged the department to prioritise the school’s completion for the benefit of local learners.

During this period, the unfinished facility has been repeatedly vandalised, with windows removed and a server stolen from the administration block.

A security company was only appointed after the theft occurred.

These issues emerged again during a recent oversight visit by the DA.

According to the party, the school appears to be in the same condition as during previous oversight visits in 2023 and 2024, with no visible progress.

“When the building of this much-needed English-medium school began, the allocated budget was R36 215 265. But after R32 162 226 was spent, the department terminated the builder’s contract.

“It is unclear what happened to the R4m balance to complete the school, which was reportedly, in 2018, 88% complete,” said the DA’s Refiloe Phoka.

“Last year, in response to questions by the DA in the Gauteng Legislature, the MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, said that R20m was needed to complete the school. Yet no progress has been made in this regard.”

The DA further highlighted the shortage of English-medium schools in Birch Acres and the surrounding areas.

In 2024, Birchleigh Hoërskool did not have sufficient capacity for Grade Eight learners, leading the department to establish a temporary container-based school in a nearby park. Later in the same year, the department established another makeshift school at a separate site in Birch Acres.

“The department’s solution is to create makeshift schools using containers. According to its own records supplied to the legislature, almost R600m was spent in Gauteng during the 2024/25 financial year on mobile classroom provisions,” Phoka said.

“The DA believes the erection of these temporary schools is an insult to learners and their parents. We want the MEC to account for the R20m that was supposed to have been allocated to complete Birch Acres Primary School.”

Phoka added that a DA-led provincial government would have directed the funds used on mobile classrooms toward completing Birch Acres Primary School and building additional permanent schools in the area.

“We will not rest until the MEC tells us where the money has gone and when this school will be completed so Ekurhuleni learners can attend a fully functional school and receive a dignified education,” she said.

Responding to concerns, Chiloane said plans to resume construction are underway.

“It was an issue of contractor disputes, and we have since resolved that. It is one of those schools in a high-pressure area that is in urgent need of facilities.

“The completion of the school is underway and should be concluded as soon as we get the contractor back on site. It will be quick to complete as the infrastructure is already there,” he said.

The department has been requested to provide further information on the matter as it becomes available.