Minister of Basic Education, Ms Siviwe Gwarube, appeared before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education in Cape Town on 6 May 2025, to provide an update on the state of school infrastructure in South Africa.

“Although strides have been made in infrastructure during the past few years, infrastructure remains a destination with continuing moving targets and maintenance required. However, we agree that learning and teaching cannot take place in environments which are unsafe and that do not offer dignified sanitation; we remain committed to the provision of quality infrastructure. The DBE has made extraordinary progress in respect of the Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) programme, replacing pit toilets with appropriate sanitation facilities with 96% of these eradicated (3,235); however, since infrastructure remains a moving target, the remaining 137 pit toilets from the 2018 backlog will be completed in the current financial year,” the Minister said.

Minister Gwarube added that, “in 2011, the DBE launched the Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) and schools built from inappropriate materials have been replaced, and sanitation facilities in 1,000 schools, as well as water and electricity infrastructure, have been addressed. The Schools Infrastructure Backlog Grant, which funds ASIDI and SAFE will be discontinued at the end of the 2025/26 financial year, and the provincial programme will be the main infrastructure programme for the sector. A total of 90% of schools are in a fair or good condition, however, 8% of these are in a poor and 2% in a very poor condition as categorised in the Education Facilities Management System (EFMS). Other infrastructure challenges include vandalism; inclement weather conditions; the capacity of delivery agents; the construction mafia; and community disruption to name but a few. A total of 8,200 schools still require additional classrooms due to overcrowding and migration patterns. Members of the public and schools can assist in identifying any pit toilets that audits could have missed by reporting remaining pit toilets through the online app at: www.safeschools.gov.za”.

The DBE’s Acting Head of Infrastructure, Mr Ramasedi Mafoko informed the Committee that, “the Provincial Infrastructure Programme, focussing on new and replacement schools, maintenance, repairs, renovations, rehabilitation, upgrading and additions, is implemented by Provincial Departments of Education (PEDs), funded from the Equitable Share (ES) and the Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG). The EIG Framework stipulates that PEDs should allocate no less than 60% of the grant allocation to address preventative and corrective maintenance at schools. Principals and School Management Teams should regularly monitor the cleaning, safe keeping and the upkeep of school facilities. The Maintenance Manual has been revised to align to the latest industry Norms and Standards and Train the Trainer Workshops commenced in 2024. PED’s are training districts, School Governing Bodies (SGBs) and schools in the implementation of the revised Maintenance Manual”.

PEDs will continue to allocate the EIG/ES funds towards addressing infrastructure backlogs, including sanitation, additional classrooms, libraries and laboratories, whilst the DBE will increase monitoring capacity and provide support to PED’s. The DBE’s 10-point strategy aims to fast-track school infrastructure planning, delivery and monitoring in the sector. Ongoing condition assessments will be conducted to verify the extent of the backlogs with Frameworks Agreements, Gateway Reviews and consequence management for defaulting service providers in place to mitigate challenges. In addition to the EIG (R15.2 billion), an investment of R32 billion is required to address the infrastructure backlog by 2030. 

Heightened collaboration and intergovernmental oversight is essential to ensure that national infrastructure priorities are effectively realised at provincial level. It is important that PEDs do not return unspent infrastructure funds to National Treasury whilst learners still attend overcrowded schools or schools with inadequate facilities. The DBE is preparing a funding application to the Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) for consideration by National Treasury. The DBE remains committed to working closely with PEDs, the private sector and other partners to ensure that all learners benefit from safe, appropriate and quality learning environments.