The Mpumalanga Department of Education is facing severe criticism over a financial equation that reveals the staggering cost for temporary structures, spending R313 901 to acquire a single prefabricated classroom and then more than half of that amount again, R181 818, to demolish and dispose of it.
This calculation emerges from the department’s own plans to spend more than R32-million demolishing 176 condemned prefabricated classrooms across the province. These structures, originally installed as a temporary relief for overcrowding and to replace storm-damaged buildings, are now deemed unsafe and must be demolished at the taxpayer’s expense.
According to the department’s 2024/2025 annual report, the units – often called mobile classrooms – have been rated “poor to be disposed of” after failing safety and structural condition tests.
The department operates 2 775 such prefabricated units across Mpumalanga, serving as classrooms, kitchens, toilets and admin blocks. The 176 condemned units, spread across the Ehlanzeni, Bohlabela, Gert Sibande, and Nkangala districts, are officially described as structurally compromised, weather-damaged, or beyond economic repair, and are no longer suitable for occupation.
The DA has written to education MEC Lindi Masina, accusing the department of reckless financial planning and wasteful expenditure. DA education spokesperson Annerie Weber questioned the logic of purchasing classrooms, knowing that millions would later be spent to dispose of them.
“Isn’t that wasteful expenditure? That money could have been used to build permanent structures that offer a better learning environment.”
The financial irony is deepened by the department’s simultaneous budgeting.
In the same financial year, the department has allocated R70-million to purchase 223 new prefabricated units, even as it prepares to spend R32-million destroying old ones.
This purchasing plan confirms the per-unit acquisition cost of approximately R313 901. The disposal cost for each of the 176 old units equates to R181 818, more than half of its original price.
Weber also sought clarity on whether the 176 scrapped units would be immediately replaced, warning that failure to do so would exacerbate school
overcrowding.
Provincial education spokesperson Jasper Zwane rubbished the DA’s concerns.
“The department rejects the claim that the R32-million figure represents wasteful expenditure,” said Zwane.
“These assessments were conducted to determine the structural condition, usability, and cost-effectiveness of maintaining or replacing each unit. The process is part of the department’s infrastructure management cycle, which identifies units that are damaged by storms, vandalised, or no longer cost-effective to repair.”
Zwane further clarified that none of the mobile classes earmarked for demolition had yet been demolished.
He said the term “disposal” refers to the administrative and technical process of evaluating assets for potential replacement or refurbishment. A mobile classroom, he explained, has an average lifespan of 12 to 15 years, depending on maintenance, usage and environmental exposure.
He added that the department had allocated R70-million during 2024/25 for new mobile classrooms “to address overcrowding and ensure learning continuity.”
Zwane also explained that although the units are movable in nature, “they are designed to be relocated between school sites as infrastructure needs change”, and that the figure of 2 775 mobile units refers exclusively to mobile or prefabricated structures, not brick-and-mortar schools.
Prefabricated classrooms were once hailed as a short-term fix. But over the years, they became a permanent feature, their lifespan stretched far beyond the intended decade.
Now, with the department locked in a cycle of buying expensive temporary units only to spend a fortune scrapping them, questions loom over whether another generation of pupils will be left studying under the shadow of collapsing policies and poor financial management.
