The innocent suffer when protestors destroy buildings, says MEC
The Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development has condemned the destroying of schools, clinics and hospitals during community protests.
This follows the burning of a primary school in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg by protesters last week.
The school sustained extensive damage, with Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi warning that the government won’t spend any of its money to fix the building.
The province’s Infrastructure Development MEC Tasneem Motara says with the new school term starting on Tuesday, the pupils will have to be moved to other schools in the area.
"The victims of the damage to public buildings are always innocent members of the community.
"As government, we don't have money already set aside for repairing buildings destroyed deliberately as the province is already under pressure to build schools, hospitals, clinics, and community centres."
Motara says this will have a negative impact on service delivery.
"When a government building is destroyed it means services can no longer be provided to the public, thus creating inconvenience. The consequences of the destruction of these facilities have a ripple effect on the government’s ability to continue to deliver on its mandate."