Mpumalanga MEC announces R935m plan for new schools, classrooms

Overcrowded schools in Mbombela, will soon be a thing of the past after an announcement that two new schools will be built in the city.

Three primary schools will also get extra classrooms.

The Mpumalanga Department of Education has set aside R935m for the project, with the bulk of it being spent on schools.

Education MEC Bonakele Majuba said extra classrooms would be built in the coming financial year at Laerskool Nelspruit, Laerskool Laeveld and Laerskool Bergland. A primary and high school will be completed in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 financial years, respectively.

The department will also be building a school specifically for the deaf and blind, with Majuba saying a site had been acquired in Mbombela.

The two sites for the new schools are yet to be announced, said department spokesperson Jasper Zwane.

Current infrastructure projects that will also be completed this year include Thaba Chweu and Mkhondo boarding schools in Lydenburg and Piet Retief, respectively.

In Emalahleni, the department will complete the construction of Mokgalithwa Primary School in September this year and a site for the construction of a primary school in Siyanqoba has been finalised.

In Middelburg, in the Steve Tshwete municipality, the construction of Aerorand Primary School will be completed in December and it will open its doors in 2020.

The construction of a primary school in New Doornkop, a few kilometres outside Middelburg, is also underway.

Zwane said the planning and design of five more schools - a primary school in Shapeve, a primary and secondary school in Osizweni and two secondary schools - were at advanced stages.

The Department of Public Works Roads and Transport will be the implementing agent of all these projects.