Gauteng may be SA’s smallest province by land size, but it carries some heavy social burdens. Nowhere is this more evident than in basic education.
Shortages of schools, overcrowded classrooms and long daily commutes for pupils have become defining features of the province’s schooling landscape.
These pressures are often explained away as the inevitable consequence of rapid population growth driven by migration from other provinces and neighbouring countries. While this is partly true, it is not the full story.
There is an uncomfortable elephant in the room: Gauteng has closed 89 public schools over the past 20 years. At the time, some of these closures were justified by declining enrolments, demographic shifts, or legitimate environmental risks such as dolomitic land.
Others were shut as part of rationalisation drives aimed at cost savings. What was never adequately planned for, however, was the future.
That future has arrived, and it is unforgiving. Gauteng today is the most populous province in the country. Thousands of people arrive daily to seek work, education and opportunity.
Yet, instead of expanding school infrastructure at the pace demanded by this growth, the province has allowed capacity to shrink.
The result is a system under siege, where children are routinely forced to travel more than 5km to access basic education, often at safety risks to themselves and a significant financial burden to their families.
Even more troubling is the fact that not all closed schools are lost causes. There are cases where the conditions that led to their closure have changed or can be changed via refurbishment. Yet, these schools remain neglected, opening them up to vandalism and invasions.
The slow pace of building new schools cannot be blamed solely on fiscal constraints. Political inertia, poor planning and chronic underperformance by contractors awarded tenders also play a role.
As reports in this newspaper have indicated, projects run over budget, miss deadlines or are abandoned altogether, with little accountability. Meanwhile, pupils pay the price while their constitutional right to access quality basic education in their own areas is denied.
The Gauteng government must act with urgency and imagination. A comprehensive audit of all closed schools is long overdue, with a clear focus on which facilities can be safely reopened and refurbished.
Where rebuilding is required, procurement processes must prioritise competence and delivery, not political connections.
Leaving usable infrastructure to decay while children travel kilometres for education or are crammed like sardines in the classrooms in schools available in their areas, is indefensible.
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