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ActionSA welcomes the Public Protector's report into the mismanaged construction of Mayibuye Primary School, which not only saw taxpayer funds wasted but also persistent delays caused by negligence by the Gauteng Provincial Government, denying the Tembisa community access to the much-needed school for years.

Over and above the sheer incompetence that led to the seven-year delayed construction of the school, the Public Protector's latest report confirms that, as a further consequence of poor project management by both the Department of Education and the Department of Infrastructure Development, taxpayers had to forfeit R10 million due to a nearly two-year delay in handing over the site to the contractors.

Built on a wetland, the Mayibuye Primary School serves as a glaring example of what we believe to be the widespread mismanagement and incompetence across provincial government departments and agencies in Gauteng, which either fail to deliver projects or poorly manage them to the tune of millions of taxpayers rands.

This is exactly why ActionSA believes in stricter performance and consequence management practices in supply chain and procurement processes that hold under-performing and non-performing service providers accountable, and as made evident in this matter, that expectation must also extend to government departments and their officials involved in procurement and project management.

ActionSA will closely monitor both the Gauteng Departments of Education and Infrastructure Development's compliance with the Public Protector's remedial actions set out in her report, which mandates that both departments adhere to and report on compliance, as well as implement strict monitoring mechanisms and cost control measures for all future projects to ensure that this negligent conduct is not repeated.

Issued by ActionSA Gauteng Provincial Caucus Leader Funzi Ngobeni