Mpumalanga’s Education Department wastes R22 million on rent per annum, instead of building a school for the deaf

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga has written to The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA), asking them to investigate the Provincial Department of Education for wasteful and fruitless expenditure, after it emerged that they are paying R22 million rent per annum to accommodate deaf learners instead of building them a school which was approved 14-years ago. 

In an Education Portfolio Committee meeting held on 29 May 2025, Education MEC, Cathy Dlamini, confirmed that her department pays Bukhosibetfu Private Boarding School in Nkomazi Local Municipality R22 million per annum to teach and accommodate 253 deaf learners. 

The DA found that the department’s initial agreement with Bukhosibetfu Private Boarding School was in 2022 for 179 deaf learners, at R11 million per annum. However, the amount has now escalated to R22 million per annum because the number of learners has increased to 253. Some of these learners were rescued from unsuitable facilities in Limpopo, where they were dumped by the Mpumalanga Department of Education, as they still have not built their own school.  

“The DA believes that this is wasteful and fruitless expenditure, considering that it has been 14 years now since it was announced in the 2011/2012 Mpumalanga Provincial Budget Speech that a school for the deaf and blind will be constructed in the province,” said Annerie Weber: MPL & DA Sokesperson on Education: Mpumalanga Province, “But the project has not materialised 14 years later, as the provincial government keeps shifting the goal posts and claims that the previously identified locations to build the school are not suitable.”

Currently, there are over 600 learners in the province who have already been identified to benefit from the school for the blind and deaf, yet they will not because the provincial government acts like the construction of the school is not a matter of urgency. 

With the department paying R22 million rand yearly, it is no wonder that the school for the deaf and blind still has not broken ground, 14 years after the announcement. It costs an average of R15 million to build a school in South Africa. 

The DA is also in possession of an internal memorandum dated 16 July 2021, where the then Director for Inclusive Education, Phililwe Mbatha, requested the departmental head, Lucy Moyane, to facilitate a year-to-year contract with Bukhosibetfu Private Boarding School until the school for the deaf and blind has been built. This is yet another deviation from procurement processes. 

“We want SCOPA to investigate the department for the possibility of corruption, wasteful, and fruitless expenditure. The DA will not stop fighting for learners living with disabilities in Mpumalanga to receive the education they deserve and need.”