A semi-completed R198m campus at the Rivoni School for the Blind in Limpopo has been left to rot after multiple delays and while pupils make do in flimsy prefab classrooms and dilapidated dormitories, writes Thembi Siaga for GroundUp.
The project, meant to serve 170 children, was started in 2019 and slated to be ready by June 2024.
But after construction halted, building materials are rusting or have been stolen, and walls are crumbling from flood damage.
It’s a familiar story. The project in Njakanjaka village was supposed to be a state-of-the-art facility, complete with an eye clinic.
In October, GroundUp reported that the contractor, Clear Choice Builders, was placed in business rescue – having already had been paid R157m.
A new subcontractor was apparently appointed. with an additional R29m allocated to finish the work, but the site appears to have been abandoned since July.
Several large buildings have not been handed over to the school and stand empty and unused. Many don’t have doors or windows. Where the eye clinic is supposed to be built, there is only a half-completed foundation with a rusting frame.
The Limpopo Department of Education, which is funding the project, and the Independent Development Trust (IDT), which is managing it, insisted at the time that the project would be completed by 10 December 2025. But that deadline was missed, and there has been no visible progress.
The IDT said the contract with Clear Choice Builders was terminated “due to breach of contract and non-performance, with 86% of the work completed, excluding the eye clinic”.
When GroundUp visited the site recently, workers and security staff said they have not been paid for more than a year. Heavy rains have caused a wall to collapse. Roofing sheets were leaking, timber and wood were decaying, and some structures against the steep embankment were under pressure from soil erosion.
Large parts of the site were waterlogged, with stagnant water around several buildings. The eye clinic’s foundations are incomplete, with exposed steel reinforcement bars already rusting.
Cement left on site has hardened after exposure to rain, and weeds abound. Inside, there are empty corridors, unattended materials and visible water damage.
Meanwhile, the school continues to operate in prefabricated buildings. Many of the pupils, from grade R to 12, stay in dormitories with holes in the floors. They only have mobile toilets.
“The situation is worrying,” said Joshua Chavalala, a local resident and a member of the project steering community. “Electricity cables have already been stolen, and doors could be next … The Department of Education and the IDT are not taking the children’s situation seriously.”
The director of the security company said the contractor owes her more than R500 000, and she is unable to pay staff.
The IDT said it is “in the process of procuring a replacement contractor”.
The cost of repairs from weather damage will be determined during the new tender process, the IDT said. It had not received any reports of vandalism or cable theft.
“A revised completion date will only be determined once a new contractor is appointed,” said Limpopo Department of Education spokesperson Mike Maringa.
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