Education

1. (a)       School buildings within the Western Cape asset portfolio broadly fall within the following typologies.

1. Conventional school buildings developed before 1970.

These buildings were mainly constructed with brick and mortar, timber windows and either corrugated iron or tiled roofs, depending on the location. The components used in these buildings were appropriately selected and therefore follow a standard depreciation curve which makes the expected lifecycle replacements of these components relatively easy to predict.

These buildings are situated throughout the province in both the metropolitan and rural districts.

2. Concrete frame structures with prefabricated infill wall panels.

These buildings were constructed mainly between 1970 and 1985 based on a typical layout plan. Most of these buildings have steel windows and asbestos cement roofs on timber trusses.

The majority of these buildings are situated within the greater metropole areas such as Mitchell’s Plan, Khayelitsha, Macassar, Delft and surrounding suburbs.

Around 30% of all the school buildings in the asset portfolio were developed/built within a 25-year period between 1970 and 1995. Within this period, sporadic waves of very intensive development took place in areas such as Mitchell’s Plan, where 85 new schools were constructed within a 17-year period. In Khayelitsha, 57 schools were constructed within a 12-year period, in Delft, 25 schools were constructed within an 8-year period and in Atlantis, 22 schools were constructed within a 15-year period.

3. Individually designed school buildings.

Since 1985 the tendency was to move away from standard school building plans to individually designed schools. These school designs include complex plan forms and roof shapes. Many of the buildings are in the winter rainfall area and were designed with deep spaces and internal passages. Skylights, double volume atriums and / or flat concrete roofs with prefabricated concrete window frames were often used to allow light into these spaces.

(b)       Based on information gathered from the 2006 NEIMS assessment the WCED developed a list of schools built with inappropriate materials and has updated this list based on new assessments and consultations. A survey was conducted in 2014. At the time of the survey, there were 207 schools on the list.

The total number of schools that would have been scoped to be completely replaced is 149 of the 207 identified in the 2014 survey.

Since the 2014 Survey:

• 49 full school replacements have been completed;
• 12 school replacements are in construction phase and due for completion over the 2020 MTEF;
• 9 schools are in various stages are at least at stage 4 – Concept Report in the project lifecycle – and are due for completion by 2022/23.

(It must be noted that during the ANC’s tenure between 2004 - 2009, only 3 schools were replaced.)

The remaining backlog as at December 2019 is therefore 100, of which 21 projects are currently in execution and can be expected to have been completed in the 2022/23 Financial Year. Budgets are ring-fenced to ensure these projects are completed.

In 2019, the WCED conducted an extraordinary survey of the conditions of facilities at the schools constructed of inappropriate materials, as well as, a sample of the schools that are particularly vulnerable to infrastructure failure due to weathering, age or overcrowding. Recommendations in the form of updated intervention strategies are being planned for implementation from 2020 towards stabilising schools and enhancing the safety of teachers and learners.

Due to funding shortfalls, as a result of Budget cuts at a National level, these strategies will focus on restoring minimum functionality and extending the lifespans of the remaining 79 schools that will not be replaced in the short to medium term. These measures include:

• Partial replacement of building sections built from inappropriate material or that show deterioration to the point of imminent failure;
• Renewals (Retaining of super structure);
• Replacement of sections with mobile classrooms as a temporary measure in anticipation of the permanent replacement; and
• Maintenance and repair.

Given the funding shortfall and backlog with regards to meeting regulations for minimum norms and standards as it relates to buildings built of inappropriate materials, the WCED has to move away from site specific scheduled maintenance programmes to component-based maintenance programmes, starting in 2020/21.

Roofs made from asbestos, either fully or partially, will be prioritised over the next 3 years as part of the component-based maintenance programme.