EC school furniture saga drags on through the courts
MANY Eastern Cape schools are likely to go through the rest of this academic year with no school furniture as the Education Department is still embroiled in a bitter legal battle over a R102million tender.
Earlier this year, the department was slapped with an interdict by the Bhisho High Court after Bongile Nkola, the managing director of Cashmere Trade 48 and Richshaw Trade and Investment, took it to court for failing to respond to his demands.
This came after he complained about the department’s manufacturing specifications, which he claimed did not accord with the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework.
Acting judge Leon Kemp granted Nkola the interdict on March 20 and ordered the department to supply him with certain documents which included a list of successful tenderers in April.
However, the department failed to supply the information on time, and Nkola took the department to court again for contempt of court. The department has now compiled the information, but is refusing to pay the legal costs of the contempt of court application, arguing that the delay was not intentional.
“The attitude of the applicants in pursuing the contempt aspect was unreasonable and they should accordingly be ordered to pay the costs; alternatively there should be no order as to costs in relation to the contempt issue,” argued the department.
But while the matter is being battled out in court, schools who desperately need furniture are forced to cram up to four pupils in desks meant to accommodate two.
So severe is the situation at several schools that pupils are sitting on five litre containers and bricks. At Gcobani Intermediate School in Cambridge, pupils sit on paint tins, with some sharing homemade benches.
But still nothing had been done by the department about their problem since the story appeared, he added.
Mkuseli Mfaxa, principal at Mpentse Junior Secondary, said they felt little hope of getting furniture because nothing had been done to solve their problem.
Tags: arc, bench, benches, bro, cashmere, containers, desk, elation, furniture, intention, leo, lion, managing director, matte, paint, ricks, urn, whRelated posts
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