South Africa: Western Cape to Get 72 New Schools

Johannesburg — A total of 72 schools, 26 new ones and 46 replacement schools, will be built in the Western Cape in the next three years, education MEC Donald Grant said on Tuesday.

"The department has finalised a three-year plan for infrastructure (2013/14-2015/16) that includes a shift in infrastructure spend in the direction of maintenance and the building of new schools," Grant said in a statement.

"The three largest allocations of this budget will be spent on new school buildings, replacement schools and on maintenance."

The province would also have five replacement school projects and 124 Grade R classrooms.

The plan would try to shift maintenance expenditure from its current 17 percent of the overall infrastructure budget to 40 percent, said Grant.

"The shift towards maintenance in this plan is not just about increasing the portion of the budget to maintenance. It is also about fundamentally changing the way maintenance is conceived and executed," he said.

There would be day-to-day maintenance by schools which would decrease the need for repairs because of neglect.

A total of 420 schools would be refurbished and have maintenance done over the three years. A further 45 schools would get life-cycle maintenance, said Grant.