Probe into unsafe schools

A high ranking delegation from the Western Cape government will inspect two Overberg schools plagued by structural defects.

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Cape Town - A high ranking delegation from the Western Cape government will head to the Overberg on Monday to inspect two schools plagued by structural defects in the Gansbaai and Hawston communities.

The visit comes in the same week as the Public Works department, together with its legal team, is set to make a decision about the termination of the contracts for the engineering provincial service providers involved in the controversial school construction debacle, which affected four schools in the province this year.

Masakhane Primary School in Gansbaai, Hawston Primary School, Delft South Primary School and Scottsdene Secondary School in Cape Town were affected by design and structural defects discovered after occupation and, in other cases, during construction at the schools.

Engineers declared the schools structurally unsafe after identifying “visual defects and cracks in the halls, walkways, classrooms and the computer rooms at the schools”.

Experts warned that the roofs of the schools could blow off in strong winds, with engineers also questioning the strength of the steel trusses.

In the case of Scottsdene Secondary School, there was an added concern because of the fact that the school falls within a seismic zone (seismic zone one).

A departmental report, presented to the standing committee on transport and public works last week, says the building should have been built to be able to withstand “an earthquake” and the structure should have been “inspected and thoroughly analysed” and designed to SABS standards with reinforced masonry walls.

Presenting the report, the department’s Liam Thiel said the accelerated schools infrastructure delivery initiative was at the core of “where they found themselves on Monday”.

He said Public Works was the implementing agent for the national Department of Basic Education, and explained that the underlying causes for the current defective structures included “increased deliverables, accelerated delivery and reduced period requirements”, placing pressure on all the teams.

“A lack of specialised structural expertise in engineering in the department, coupled with reduced project design specification and documentation, as well limited official scrutiny and a lack of verification of engineering Professional Services Provider documents were also contributing factors,” he added.

Thiel said the visual defects, such as cracking, were seen in some cases only after occupation and in other cases during construction at the various schools.

“This was as a result of sub-standard design of the structural elements and unverifiable certification of safety and soundness of constructed structure,” he added.

This, he stressed, placed doubt on the appropriateness and the safety of the structures because of the fact that the certification issued by the professional service providers engineers could not be verified.

Public Works and Transport MEC Donald Grant said he and his team would be joined by officials from the education department during their visits.

“We will visit Masakhane Primary in Gansbaai in the morning before heading to Hawston Primary in the afternoon. The technical report on the structural defects has been released and given to the standing committee.”

Grant said it could be expected that by mid-year 2016, all work at the schools would be finalised.

“I just want to go to these schools with the education officials to ensure that we’ve got a plan in place so that the children will not be prejudiced going forward. An independent forensic engineer was brought in to re-look the designs and drawing,” he said.

warda.meyer@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

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