Thousands of Eastern Cape pupils yet to receive PPE

Thousands of Eastern Cape pupils are still without personal protective equipment (PPE) — three days after the scheduled reopening of schools.

Many pupils in the province have not been able to return to school despite basic education minister Angie Motshekga assuring the nation on Sunday night that  “95% of our schools have been ably provided with the Covid-19 related imperatives”. 

A report presented by Eastern Cape education department superintendent-general Themba Kojana on Tuesday shows that 3,197 personal protective equipment (PPE) packages had not been delivered to many schools in the province.

While the report is dated June 4, Bhisho has acknowledged that there are still many pupils in the province yet to receive PPE, although they were expected to take possession of this equipment soon.  

The report said 1,908 PPE packages had been delivered.

The document was presented to a provincial education portfolio committee meeting on Tuesday.

Highlighted in the report are some of the areas where there has been a backlog in PPE delivery. These include:

• Afred Nzo west: 99 delivered, 458 not delivered;
• Chris Hani east: 117 delivered, 360 not delivered;
• Joe Gqabi: 105 delivered, 214 not delivered
• OR Tambo Coastal: 217 delivered, 393 not delivered;
• OR Tambo inland: 81 delivered, 537 not delivered;
• Amathole east: 191 delivered, 430 not delivered;
• Buffalo City: 299 delivered, 89 not delivered;

The report said some service providers “could not manage” the task of delivery.

DispatchLIVE attempted to join the virtual committee meeting, but was unable to gain access. Eventually, access was granted at the tail end of the meeting.   

In a letter dated June 5, which was also presented to the portfolio committee, Kojana said  as a result of a discussion and agreement by the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) on June 4, it was decided that visitors to schools — including civil organisations — must be limited.

“That the process must be controlled in order to protect our facilities from the risk of contamination and our learners from being infected.”

However, DispatchLIVE established that there was heated debate around this directive.

Incensed DA MPL Yusuf Cassim said after the meeting that this exclusion also applied to public representatives.

He said this was the ANC's ploy to prevent oversight from mayors, MPLs and councillors and an attempt to muzzle the media.

Asked where this instruction had come from, Cassim said it could only have come from education MEC Fundile Gade or Kojana.

Education department spokesperson Loyiso Pulumani said the “no-public”  instruction came from minister Angie Motshekga's speech on Sunday.

But no mention was made of public representatives or the media in Motshekga's address, the Dispatch established.  

Cassim said there were complaints from some MPLs  that companies contracted to provide sanitisers to schools in rural areas had instead supplied methylated spirits.

“Individuals going to oversight visits in schools across the province, particularly those in rural areas,  have alleged both to the chairperson of the portfolio committee and to the meeting itself that there were schools that had PPE that is not correct. That's why they've asked for the specifications of the PPE and one of the reports we've received is that instead of receiving sanitisers, they received methylated spirits,” Cassim said.

Responding to a question about the 3,197 packages that had not been delivered, Pulumani said the department wanted to “mop up” the backlog by the end of the week.

“All pupils will have had access to PPE,” Pulumani said.

“It's a moving target. They're [deliveries] happening as we speak. The figures DG [Kojana] was speaking about at the portfolio committee are current, as per last night [Monday], but they don't take into consideration deliveries that took place today [Tuesday], but I assure you by tomorrow [Wednesday] the number would have halved.”

DispatchLIVE asked him whether pupils without PPE had been in class on Monday.

“The pupils can't be in class. We've said deliverables that have to take place are access to PPE,  water and sanitation. Without those, schools aren't open. Schools will only be open once those non-negotiables have been delivered.”

Asked if journalists and public representatives were barred from schools, Pulumani said public representatives were not necessarily barred.

“On the advice of the health department, we were advised to stop access to schools for now because we don't know whether the adults are bringing in the virus. It had nothing to do with refusing to be assessed or having oversight.

“It was on the advice [of provincial health] and council of education minister [Angie Motshekga] last Sunday — it was against adults, and not necessarily public representatives. It was not taken by the SG [Kojana]”

Pulumani said he had not heard about methylated spirits being delivered to schools.

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