Dear Honourable Minister,
Equal Education (EE) is a movement of learners, parents, teachers, and community members dedicated to achieving quality and equality in South Africa’s education system. For over a decade, we have witnessed firsthand the stark contrast between this ideal and the daily reality for thousands of learners, particularly in rural provinces like the Eastern Cape. Today, we write to you on a significant, yet sombre, anniversary, not in celebration, but in commemoration.
Twelve years ago, the signing of the Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure promised a new reality. It was a binding commitment to replace mud schools, pit latrines, and hazardous environments with safe, dignified, and conducive places of learning. This law was a beacon of hope, a testament to what could be achieved when the state prioritises the rights of its children. We gather today not to extinguish that hope, but to relight it, for its flame has been systematically dimmed by delay, obfuscation, and a troubling retreat from accountability.
The very essence of this commemoration is rooted in the profound difference between celebrating an achievement and commemorating a promise. To celebrate would be to honour a duty fulfilled; to commemorate is to mark a significant moment while acknowledging that its core promise remains tragically unfulfilled. The 12th anniversary of the Norms and Standards is not a milestone of success, but a stark memorial to promises deferred and justice delayed for a generation of learners.
Lukhozi Secondary: A Victory, But Not Yet a Vindication
In this landscape of systemic failure, hard-fought victories shine brightly. The recent allocation of a contractor to Lukhozi Secondary School stands as a testament to the relentless organising power of learners and community activists who refused to be silenced. For years, they endured inadequate infrastructure, learning in conditions that undermined their dignity and potential. Their struggle, amplified by EE’s campaigns, has forced a critical step forward.
However, we must be unequivocally clear: the allocation of a contractor is a procedural victory, not a final one. We cannot and will not claim a true victory for Lukhozi until the new classrooms are built, the laboratories are equipped, and the gates are opened to hundreds of deserving learners who can finally learn in an environment worthy of their dreams. The real triumph will be measured not in tender documents but in the lived experience of every child who walks through those new doors. Until then, this victory remains precarious, a potential that could yet be squandered by further contractor delays or a lack of oversight. Lukhozi is a battle won in a war that is far from over.
This caution is not born of pessimism, but of painful experience. For every Lukhozi, there are countless schools like Eyabantu Senior Secondary, trapped in a devastating cycle of contractor abandonment and infrastructural decay. These schools represent the overwhelming norm, where the Department’s failure to provide continuous oversight and hold its own contractors accountable leads to half-built structures and shattered hopes. During our recent school visits, we have documented multiple instances of schools with successive tender procurements, yet little to no tangible progress on the ground. This indicates a profound breakdown in project management and accountability within the system.
The Human Cost of Systemic Failure: A National Crisis
The consequences of these failures are not abstract; they are etched into the daily lives of learners and teachers in every province.
At Amos Maphanga Secondary in Gauteng, established in 2011 with “temporary” mobile classrooms, learners are still waiting for a permanent structure. The school is severely overcrowded. Two Grade 9 classrooms have fully collapsed, forcing already overcrowded classes to absorb more learners. The majority of classrooms have no windows and leaking roofs, halting lessons during rain or extreme heat. Most shockingly, the school has only one functional toilet for female learners and no functional toilets for male learners, a profound violation of their dignity and safety.
At Thandi Eleanor Sibeko Secondary School in Duduza, a school of 1279 learners is housed entirely in 32 dilapidated mobile classrooms, one of which is unusable. The overcrowding is palpable, with learners scrambling for chairs and sharing desks during exams. The infrastructure is so unsafe that a roof collapsed onto a teacher, leaving both educators and learners in a state of constant fear. If teachers are afraid for their safety, what does that say about the environment we are providing for our children?
During our recent school visits, we have also documented multiple instances of schools with successive tender procurements, yet little to no tangible progress on the ground. This indicates a serious and critical breakdown in project management and accountability within the system.
The Deliberate Hollowing Out of Accountability
This crisis has been deliberately deepened by the Department of Basic Education’s own hand. The 2024 amendments to the school infrastructure law systematically stripped away the hard, legally binding deadlines that were the law’s very backbone. These deadlines were not arbitrary; they were the engine of accountability, the mechanism designed to ensure steady prioritisation and progress, and hold the state to its word. Their removal has created a policy vacuum where urgency has been replaced by ambiguity, and binding commitments have been downgraded to open-ended aspirations.
The consequences of these actions are not abstract policy failures; they have names and faces. They are the learners of Mthatha and Lusikisiki who are forced to be educated in overcrowded classrooms that stifle learning and teaching. They are the children who navigate unsafe structures, risking their safety daily. We have observed, time and again, that a school’s physical environment is inextricably linked to the morale of both teachers and learners. When the infrastructure is dilapidated and unsafe, it sends a demoralising message that these learners are not valued, directly contributing to disengagement and rising dropout rates. In a province already plagued by crippling unemployment, the failure to prioritise a quality basic education is a recipe for perpetuating cycles of poverty and inequality.
Our Call to Action
Therefore, on this day of commemoration, our demand is clear and urgent. We call on you, Honourable Minister, to immediately initiate the process to reinstate the clear, hard-stop deadlines into the Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure. The right to a basic education, as enshrined in our Constitution, is non-negotiable. A right without a mechanism for enforcement is merely a suggestion. The restoration of these deadlines is the fundamental first step towards restoring faith in the Department’s commitment to fulfilling this right.
Furthermore, we demand a comprehensive and transparent plan from the DBE to address the systemic issues plaguing infrastructure delivery, including:
- Enhanced Oversight: The implementation of a rigorous, publicly accessible monitoring system for all infrastructure projects to prevent contractor abandonment and ensure continuous progress.
- Urgent Intervention in “Forgotten Schools”: A dedicated plan, with clear timelines, to address the needs of schools like Eyabantu Senior Secondary and Amos Maphanga Secondary that have been left in limbo.
- Community and Civil Society Engagement: A formalised process for meaningful consultation with school communities and organisations like Equal Education in the planning and monitoring of school infrastructure.
The time for empty promises is over. The youth of South Africa, and especially the Eastern Cape, have waited long enough. The amendment of the school infrastructure law was a step backwards; we now demand a decisive step forward. We will continue to organise, to mobilise, and to hold you accountable until every learner in this country has the safe, dignified, and quality education they are constitutionally guaranteed.
We await your prompt and public response to these critical demands.
Yours in the struggle for quality and equality in education,
Equal Education’s
Ona Matshaya, Head of Eastern Cape Province
Siyabulela Ncetani, National Council Member, Eastern Cape Representative