Transport and Public
- (a) Why has the Kwa-Faku School not been demolished while the commitment was given to the school last year in November after the school closed, (b) what has he and his Department done to address this, (c) how will this further delay the building of
the new school, seen against the commitment that was made of a new school being built by January 2019;
- whether the school and the relevant stakeholders have been informed of this delay and of subsequent plans to start the demolition and construction process with new deadlines; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
(1) (a) The Kwafaku PS tender (S093/17) was advertised on 03 November 2017 and closed on 05 December 2017. The demolition of the existing inappropriate structure forms part of the phase 1 of the contract (3 months of the 17-month contract). The DTPW initially committed to a project execution plan with WCED that Site Handover is to commence by 18 May 2018 and Practical Completion to be achieved by 18 October 2019.
(b) All demolitions are required to serve at the Provincial Property Committee [PPC] for endorsement. The PPC is competent to attach conditions to any such demolition. In the case of Kwa-Faku school the nature of the conditions resulted in a delay in the commencement and completion of the work. A further delay resulted from community objections which required that aspects of the plans be redrafted.
(c) This delay removed the school from its original planning and construction timeline and during that time the available resources were redirected to the high priority Day Zero drought initiative launched by the province on 30 January 2018. The anticipated plan for Site Handover (start of demolition and commencement of construction) is 18 August 2018 and practical completion anticipated for the start of the 2020 academic year.
(2) The WCED has been informed by the DTPW of progress and any revised dates at regular official interdepartmental meetings.
