Between June and August 2020, the Gauteng Department of Education spent more than R431-million on sanitising schools. This money was paid in sundry payments to hundreds of companies, many of which appear to have no expertise or prior involvement in the cleaning industry. To make matters worse, it was for a form of 'deep cleaning' and 'decontamination' that was not required or recommended by either the Department of Health or the Department of Basic Education. Maverick Citizen went looking for answers.
This article is part of an ongoing investigation into Covid-19 wasteful and corrupt expenditure.
On 8 November last year, Maverick Citizen reported that the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) had spent R98-million on decontaminating schools for Covid-19 in September 2020. At the time, departmental spokesperson Steve Mabona justified the large expense. He said it was necessary to allay fears of teachers, unions, SGBs and parents. He also explained that the cost was very high because of the large portfolio of buildings occupied by the GDE.
Wasteful, irregular, dangerous and probably corrupt: Gauteng's Covid-19 splurge continues, this time in schools
Mabona added that the work was only paid for in September because invoices had been...