Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Sesotho soundbites by Cllr Stone Makhema. See attached pictures here and here.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Metsimaholo has successfully secured an oversight visit by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Basic Education to HM Mthombeni High School. This comes after the DA’s persistent efforts to highlight the school’s severe infrastructure problems and long-standing construction delays.
The committee visited the school on 15 October 2025 to assess the situation first-hand and determine corrective action.
For months now, we have been knocking on the doors of the Free State MEC for Education and, recently, the Free State Premier to intervene regarding the state of HM Mthombeni High School and the delayed completion thereof, but to no avail.
It has been close to 8 years since construction began, and the school is showing no signs of when it will be completed. What was reported as 94% completion by the department is nothing more than a fairytale. The Education MEC reported a 93% completion rate in May during the question-and-answer session, which represents a 1% increase, according to the report.
The incomplete media centre, school hall, V-drains, poor structural workmanship and large areas not paved, unelectrified classrooms and rubble all over are just some of the challenges that learners and teachers face every day.
The presentation by the school in the oversight meeting showed a deteriorating performance of results by learners over five (5) years, which can only be attributed to an unconducive learning environment. Construction of labour with no proper PPE takes place during school hours.
The Free State education department has been shifting blame to the public works department and only agreed in the presence of the committee that the project actually started in 2019, which is what they have been failing to admit in our previous enquiries.
It is disturbing to hear that, over the past seven years, the first contractor was paid millions for work that was not completed. Yet, to date, the department has taken no action to recover the lost money or even blacklist the company in question.
The Free State Department of Education has been instructed by the Portfolio Committee to prepare a detailed report of events since 2018, when the initial contractor was appointed, up to the present, including the financial implications and the projected completion date, by Friday, 17 October 2025.
The report will provide the committee with an informed decision on what action to take and hold those involved accountable.
We welcome this step in the right direction and will monitor the events as they unfold until the school is complete and the corrupt elements are identified and held accountable.
The DA will not stop until a conducive learning environment for all is the norm.