Seven of the eight boats, which were procured at R4.1-million in 2016 by the KwaZulu-Natal education department, are now white elephants.

The purpose of the boats was to ferry pupils across rivers because the provincial government had opted against building bridges.

No feasibility study was done before the procurement of the boats, whose engines could not run on shallow rivers. 

Members of the provincial legislature (MPLs) were on Tuesday briefed on the Auditor-General's (AG) findings relating to the department's 2022/23 financial year.

Education MEC Mbali Frazer said the vessels were acquired in 2016 "as part of the provincial government's commitment in ensuring safe transportation for students who needed to cross rivers to reach their schools".

"At that time, the construction of bridges would've been a more time-consuming process. The acquisition of these boats was seen as a more immediate response to the urgent necessity," Frazer said.

However, R4.1-million and eight years later, the bridges are yet to be built and only two schools are being served by a single boat.

A comprehensive feasibility study was "regrettably" not conducted on the rivers the boats had to traverse, Frazer said. 

She said the department found out the rivers were shallow, which "rendered them [rivers] unsuitable for the engine-powered boats".

The boats were subsequently stored at the Sharks Board in uMhlanga, Durban, while other options were being explored, Frazer said. 

She later said she was "happy to report" that the eight boats were operational, transporting pupils from two schools in the uMkhanyakude District Municipality.

However, the head of department (HOD), Nkosinathi Ngcobo, who was speaking under oath, contradicted his political head, saying only one boat was operational.

"Only one of those [boats] is actually in use and, on the basis of that, the AG has declared this a material irregularity and required us to act and respond in terms of how the accounting officer is going to deal with the issue of seven unused boats. We are conceding that, in 2016, the feasibility study was not done perfectly," Ngcobo said.

In a presentation, Ngcobo showed that one boat, referred to as Jon Boat 850, was still being used to transport pupils from the Nkovukeni Primary and Nhlange Secondary Schools. 

His presentation indicated that the department had now approached the provincial cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) department to take over the boat for disaster management operations. 

This transfer will happen in mid-November 2023, the department's report showed.

Speaking to News24, the Democratic Alliance's Imran Keeka said he had spotted the contrasting remarks of Frazer and Ngcobo.

He had gone on site visits to the Sharks Board, where he only saw two boats in storage. 

"I doubt that one boat is even working in uMkhanyakude. Her information is incorrect," Keeka said. 

"There is a contradiction between the MEC and the HOD. In that regard [of the single operational boat], I've sent a parliamentary question to the MEC. A dissonance of this sort doesn't bode well for good governance in the department."

MPLs demanded that the boats be used for other governmental purposes.