As the ferry boats purchased by the KwaZulu-Natal department of basic education are decaying on the Natal Sharks Board premises, scores of pupils continue to cross life-threatening rivers and dams to get to school.
It has been six years since the boats were procured to provide much-needed relief to the pupils who stare death in the face daily crossing crocodile-infested rivers to and from school. About R2-million was spent in the futile exercise that later became the subject of an investigation.
Gcothoyi High School in eMakhabeleni, near Nkandla, is one school severely affected by absenteeism because pupils can’t cross the Dimane River on rainy days.
School governing body member Nkosinathi Mzila said they were told that a ferry boat would be provided as a temporary measure while a bridge would be built later, but none of these promises was fulfilled.
“Learners are losing precious learning time staying at home. Because of several drowning incidents, we have discouraged them from risking their lives crossing the river, which often bursts its banks. Matric learners are the ones carrying the heavy brunt,” said Mzila. He said some pupils brave the currents and swim across the river.
“Some learners help others to swim across, but it’s dangerous. We also have learners who have dropped out of school because they have become despondent.”
In a parliamentary reply to the IFP, the official opposition party in KwaZulu-Natal, MEC for education Kwazi Mshengu conceded that there was no feasibility or execution plan for the project. “These would have involved establishing the suitability of the engine-propelled boats for usage in the identified rivers, the budget required for staff employment, operation and the maintenance of the boats,” said Mshengu.
He added that the department concluded that the boats could not be used and an investigation was instituted to ascertain the circumstances that led to the procurement of the boats.
But IFP MP and its spokesperson on education Thembeni Madlopha-Mthethwa said the party believed there was corruption in the procurement of the boats.
“The IFP wants people to be held accountable for wasting taxpayers’ money. We also want the [findings of the] investigation on how the boats were procured to be made public,”
Education districts such as uMgungundlovu, uMzinyathi, iLembe and uMkhanyakude are some of those in which pupils must cross rivers to get to their schools.
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