Sale of School Land

Joint Press Statement by the Western Cape MEC for Transport and Public Works, Mcebisi Skwathsa and the MEC for Education, Cameron Dugmore.

The Departments of Transport and Public Works and Education herewith wish to confirm that we are in the process of investigating the possibility of selling off certain educational and state properties, to mobilise funds to be utilized in the interests of all our communities, especially the poorest of the poor.

Given the growing crisis in school accommodation in the province, especially in Cape Town, and the lack of available funds to accelerate the school building programme, it is important that Government looks at alternative means of generating funds to build new schools, including through Public-Private partnerships.

The sale of excess and/or underutilized school and education land presents a real opportunity for our wealthy schools to contribute to building a home for all in this province.

Government will approach this matter in a responsible way. In the long run, it is not advisable to alienate and sell all available school land. We have to take into account future accommodation needs, especially in areas where new housing developments are to be initiated.

The school land which are referred to, is state property. But we acknowledge that school facilities are managed by school governing bodies (SGB's) and they have a right to participate in decisions affecting the utilisation of such facilities.

Government will engage in a process of consultation with SGB's before arriving at any decision. This process will be respected.

We also call on SGB's of schools with excess land to initiate discussions among themselves and their communities, and examine the continued need for the land at their disposal.

SGB's should perhaps examine and consider alienation and sale of the land. They should also look at providing access to poorer schools to these sports facilities.

Since former Model-C schools are located in advantaged residential areas, it follows that the school grounds are inherently more valuable than those in townships like Khayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain.

School facilities and school grounds still reflect apartheid education policy conditions that embedded the privilege of these schools as compared with schools in poorer communities.

Comparatively speaking, wealthy schools are located on land of an average of between 8 and10 ha, while those in African and Coloured townships range between 3 and 4 ha.

Due to the relative value of the land, these wealthy schools "own" potentially high levels of capital. They are able to gain further advantage through this land in several ways, for example:

• developing additional facilities like sports fields, which enable their learners to participate in and excel at various sports codes;
• renting of school grounds for various commercial purposes, like the building of film sets, and bazaar or mardi grass shows;
• the high financial returns a school may generate if allowed to sell parts of their land.

The Government wants to make it clear: we applaud the initiatives of communities and school management. But it must be noted that few other schools are able to initiate the same kind of activities to augment their school finances.

The continued perpetuation of school inequality has the potential of generating widespread discontent among our education communities. School principals of poorer schools are already raising this issue with us in our interactions with them.

Therefor this Provincial Government is determined to consider all available options, with due care and respect, in pursuit of a people's contract for a better life for all our communities.

Enquiries:
Chris Prins
Manager: Communication
Department of Transport and Public Works
Tel: 021 483 2132
Email: cwprins@pgwc.gov.za