Different forms of maladministration occurred during construction of Mayibuye Primary on wetland: PPSA

Different forms of maladministration, undue delays and irregularities occurred during the construction of Mayibuye Primary School in Rabie Ridge, Midrand, the public protector has found.

The Public Protector South Africa (PPSA) on Sunday released a report on the investigation into allegations that functionaries of the Gauteng department of infrastructure development (GDID) and Gauteng department of education (GDE) improperly constructed the school on an old sewer line without conducting a wetland study and spent more than R82m on an incomplete project. 

The investigation comes after a complaint by Mmusi Maimane in September 2020. He said the school, equipped to cater for 1,200 pupils, remained shut as it couldn't obtain an occupancy certificate due to the dangerous terrain on which it was built.

He alleged that though the school’s building plans were approved and the school was built, it was only after it had been constructed that a wetland investigation was conducted by the GDID, which discovered an old sewer line that had been leaking for years.

The PPSA found the allegation that the functionaries of the GDID and GDE did not comply with the applicable legal prescripts and procedures regulating procurement or supply chain management processes during the construction of the school was substantiated. 

“The contractor, namely Basic Blue/Nebavest, was appointed by the GDID on August 22 2015, but permission to occupy the site was obtained from the landowner, the City of Johannesburg metropolitan municipality, on September 22 2016, which was 13 months after the award of the contract or tender,” it said.

“The GDE amended the scope of the contract four days after the contractor was appointed to include, among other things, smart school requirements. These required additional funding from the Gauteng provincial treasury, and resulted in increased costs and further delays to get approvals from the relevant provincial treasury.”

According to the PPSA’s office, the handing over of the site to the contractor was also unduly delayed as it only happened on May 12 2017, and as a direct result of the delays, the GDID and GDE incurred compensation events (CEs) of more than R10m towards the contractor for “standing time”.

“Poor project management by the GDE and GDID resulted in their inability to identify shortcomings that existed on the site, such as the revision of the scope of the project by the GDE to incorporate smart school requirements, the diversion of sewer lines and the encroaching properties on site,” the investigation found.

“Both the GDE and GDID failed to ensure that undue delays experienced in this project were prevented or avoided through proper planning and project management by co-ordinating their actions through coherent governance, consultation with one another and co-operation as contemplated in the constitution.”

The report found the Gauteng department of agriculture, rural development and environment had no record of an application or a decision for an environmental authorisation from the GDID in connection with the development of footprint activities for the site where the school was constructed. 

The wetland study was commissioned only after construction started.

“Even without certainty due to the modifications done in preparation for building on the northern portion of Erf 2326 Commercia Extension 34 Township Rabie Ridge/Midrand, all the school buildings are without a doubt within a 500m radius of a wetland.”

The delays could have been avoided if functionaries of the GDID and GDE collaborated and co-operated effectively to satisfy themselves about permission to occupy the site and the availability of land, the PPSA said. 

Regarding remedial action, the PPSA recommended the head of the GDID, within 60 calendar days from the date of receipt of the report, must provide the PPSA with a project plan indicating how and when completion of the civil works will be finalised to ensure the school is fully operational in line with the efficient management of the working capital, and to enable pupils to access and use all the facilities during 2024.

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