03 Oct 2023

Regular checks on maintenance schedules of buildings are necessary to improve safety, Minister of Transport and Public Works, Mr Eric Molale has said.

Mr Molale advised staff during a visit to Molefhi Senior Secondary School in Mochudi Friday, urging public officers charged with the responsibility to do cyclic maintenance of public facilities to do that without fail.

The school’s cafeteria roof is in a bad state and the facility has been closed since April, prompting the minister’s visit.

Mr Molale said public officers should be responsive in emergency works and follow due processes to get infrastructure fixed promptly.

“I need to make it clear that some of the things do not happen because of lack of money, but lack of responsiveness,” he said,

He expressed concern that the directive calling on ministries to do maintenance work for their buildings was misinterpreted, hence his ministry was not roped in to ensure that due diligence in public works was followed.

Mr Molale said minimum standards for infrastructure, building control codes and other regulations should be followed in maintenance of public infrastructure.

“I want to urge the Department of Building and Engineering Services (DBES) to take charge and ensure that processes are followed by determining standards, scope of work and ensure procurement laws are followed,” said Mr Molale, adding that policy pronouncements that stipulated how things were done in government were clear and should be followed.

When doing maintenance, client ministries should follow maintenance schedules without fail and ask for guidance when unsure, Mr Molale said.

He also advised that the District Development Committees (DDC) should familiarise themselves with the Facility Management Framework Strategy and internalise what was contained in the development budget under maintenance so that they utilised funds allocated for maintenance.

“A functional DDC should have an orderly project inventory of ongoing projects, those that are due for maintenance and new projects,” he said.

Earlier on, Kgatleng District regional education director, Mr Mothusi James stated that the school dining hall for Molefhi secondary was long overdue for cyclic maintenance that never happened until the roofing finally collapsed.

He said the technical team made an assessment and that a tender was floating for its refurbishment. 

Mr James said currently, only the kitchen, which was part of the hall, was used, but pupils were fed outside for safety. ends