In briefing the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on school infrastructure, Minister Gwarube said that the DBE is responsible for setting norms and standards and to intervene through government structure for a more rigorous process of monitoring, oversight and expenditure tracking of the Education Infrastructure (EIG) Grant transferred to the various Provincial Education Departments (PEDs). On the 2018 Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) backlog, the DBE is at a substantial completion rate of 99% due to challenges experienced by implementing agents, planning weaknesses and incomplete projects from donors which were taken over by the Department to finalise. Grade R planning and infrastructure must be deliberate and phased with compulsory Grade R being implemented. The Minister further indicated that the slow progress in respect of infrastructure for inclusive education to accommodate children living with disabilities also requires enhanced effort. “Our vision is to have 7 million children in ECD centres by 2030 and we appeal to them to get registered to qualify for subsidy benefits,” the Minister added.

On the Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) programme launched in 2011, all the 1,086 schools have been fitted with appropriate toilets, and in respect of the SAFE programme launched in 2018, 3,305 of the 3,372 schools identified as “dependent on basic pit toilets” have been fitted with appropriate toilets. The balance of 60 schools is scheduled to achieve practical completion in 2026.

Mr Ramasedi Mafoko, DBE Acting Head of Infrastructure, explained that the infrastructure challenges are a result of the growth in enrolment figures placing pressure on the system, leading to overcrowding and congestion in no and low-fee schools. He explained that “a sizable portion of the school infrastructure system is degraded given the history of under-maintenance, accelerated by social and environmental factors such as vandalism and climate change, causing storm damage to schools”.

He added that the EIG framework stipulates that PEDs should allocate no less than 60% of the Grant allocation to address preventative and corrective maintenance at schools. He reported that 43,677 classrooms are required to accommodate overcrowding, adding that only 379,521 classrooms are currently available. Based on DBE Capital Investment Planner, a total annual investment pf R57 billion is required to address infrastructure backlog. He added that the EIG expenditure was at 87% as of 23 February 2026, with R49.9b allocated for the 2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). Mr Mafoko explained that condition assessment, the process of collecting and recording information on the number, location, condition and functional adequacy of all the existing education facilities, is an ongoing process conducted by PED’s at different intervals using different strategies. He also cited the various resource documents available, and the training provided to assist PEDs in this regard.

Basic Education Director-General, Mr Mathanzima Mweli, the DBE’s Infrastructure team and the Project Support Unit, engage in ongoing site visits, as well as weekly operational meetings with the executive management of implementing agents. However, it is imperative to build and strengthen a credible pipeline of infrastructure projects to forge a more sustainable and stable fiscal path for infrastructure development and operationalise an agile and responsive infrastructure delivery model to meet education service needs; a one-size-fits-all infrastructure delivery model inhibits performance and innovation. Implementing a risk-adjusted school infrastructure maintenance and school replacement strategy is on the cards, whilst developing a broader set of contracts and project delivery mechanisms to fast track the delivery of the new schools and classrooms. Diversified implementation strategies will ensure sustainable infrastructure development, along with alternative funding modalities and post-occupancy evaluations to assess how building is performing and inform future building designs.