Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, together with Sibanye-Steelwater mining company, have officially handed over the newly built state-of-the-art JS Skenjana Senior Secondary School in Dutywa to the Department of Basic Education.
The building of the school was funded by Sibanye-Steelwater, to the tune of R75 million, as part of its Social and Labour Plan (SLP) derived from the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.
The building of the school has been credited to then Eastern Cape Education MEC, Noxolo Kiviet, who, during a visit to the school, promised to approach private companies to assist with its construction.
Kiviet, who also attended the handover ceremony, currently serves as Public Service and Administration Minister.
Mantashe handed over the school to Basic Education Deputy Minister, Dr Reginah Mhaule, and Eastern Cape Education MEC, Fundile Gade.
During his handover remarks, Mantashe lambasted the people of the Eastern Cape for being against development.
He was reacting to an earlier revelation by Mbhashe Local Municipality executive mayor, Samkelo Janda, who said that the construction of the school was delayed for over a decade due to land claimants who were laying claim to the land where the school is built.
“Eastern Cape is one of the poorest provinces in the country and yet it referred to as Home of the Legends. The province also exports intellectual capacity to other provinces as a labour exporting area which led to Sibanye-Stillwater investing in Dutywa as one of the labour-sending areas,” Mantashe remarked.
“There is no province that resists development like the Eastern Cape because the people where the proposed development is to take place want to cash in on the development and my appeal is to the Eastern Cape to desist from that,” Mantashe added.
Giving a brief history of the school, the principal, Nomawabo Sangqu, said that the school was founded in 1986 and is named after its founder and prominent businessman, JS Skenjana.
She said that the school has been plagued by poor infrastructure since its inception and thanked Sibanye-Stillwater for having made their dream of a properly built school a reality.
Sangqu has been with the school since 1987.
Basic Education Deputy Minister, Dr Reginah Mhaule, said that their plan is to change it to a school that offers Maths, Science and Technology.
“This school, the way it is built, accommodates everything and that is why in the medium term we need to change it to a school that offers Maths, Science and Technology because it has all the necessary infrastructure such as science laboratories and a computer centre,” Mhaule said.
The newly built school boasts 33 classrooms, a science laboratory, a media centre, a computer laboratory, a kitchen, a hall, and flushable ablution facilities, among its notable features.
