Residents say officials promised the two developments could coexist
- Residents of Flagstaff in the Eastern Cape say they were fooled into accepting a multimillion-rand sewerage project being built next to a site earmarked for a new high school.
- The sewerage project is now nearing completion but took 14 years.
- Plans to replace the more than 100-year-old Flagstaff Comprehensive High School have stalled because the education department says it cannot be built near a sewage plant.
Residents of Flagstaff in the Eastern Cape say they were fooled into agreeing to a multimillion-rand sewerage plant next to a site earmarked for a new high school.
Residents say they supported the sewage project after government officials assured them it would not jeopardise the construction of a long-awaited replacement school for Flagstaff Comprehensive High, which is more than 100 years old.
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After 14 years, the sewage plant is nearing completion. But now, the provincial education department says the new school cannot be built near the sewage plant.
"We were told the sewer and the school could exist together. Now we are told the school cannot be built because of the sewer. We feel like we were played," says community committee member Solomzi Mbhobho, who spent almost two decades fighting for a new school.
Decades-long dispute
In 2008, residents approached the education department to request that the ageing buildings of Flagstaff Comprehensive High be refurbished. At the time, the school had leaking roofs, broken windows and doors, and was no longer fit for teaching and learning.
After several meetings, Mbhobho says, the department asked the community to identify land for a new school. A site was surveyed and approved by the department.
While the community waited for construction to begin, the OR Tambo District Municipality informed them that land adjacent to the school site was earmarked for the Flagstaff Bulk Sewer Project.
According to Mbhobho, officials assured them that the sewer project would not affect the school's construction. "They told us both projects could be built next to each other, so we agreed," he said.
Construction of the sewer project began in 2012.
A year later, Flagstaff Comprehensive High School was identified as one of three schools to benefit from a R195-million reconstruction programme managed by the Eastern Cape Development Corporation. Residents expected construction to begin in 2016.
Instead, Mbhobho says, education department officials informed them that the school could no longer be built because the waste treatment facility posed a health risk.
"That is when we realised something was wrong. We started asking the municipality questions, but we never got clear answers," says Mbhobho.
The community protested and stopped construction of the sewer project in 2017. According to a 2018 National Council of Provinces report, the project was about 12% complete at that stage.
Mbhobho said municipal officials challenged the education department to produce evidence that there was a health risk. Officials later took community representatives to schools in Mthatha, Mount Fletcher and Bhisho that had been built close to sewer infrastructure, he said.
Mbhobho said the community then allowed construction at the sewer project to proceed.
Education department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said talks with the community and municipality continue. He said land had been identified, but they first needed to submit a formal application and consult the local traditional leadership.
In the meantime, the department has supplied the old school with seven temporary classrooms and demolished two unsafe classroom blocks.
However, community leader and former school governing body member Zifezile Dling-Dling said the land identified by the department is in another village, and residents are opposed to it.
"We fought for a school here," he said.
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Delays on sewer project
For years, households have battled with overflowing sewage and poor sanitation in Flagstaff. The bulk sewer project will address these long-standing sanitation issues for Flagstaff and parts of Thabo Mbeki township.
The municipality did not respond when asked how much had been spent on the project to date, but a Department of Water and Sanitation progress report says the first two phases cost R65-million, and the third phase will come to R75-million.
The project has been repeatedly delayed, sometimes due to community protests.
OR Tambo District Municipality Mayor Melusi Ngqondwana told the National Council of Provinces in November 2025 that the project was 80% complete.
Municipal spokesperson Ncebakazi Kolwane, in June, said the remaining work involves installing and commissioning mechanical and electrical equipment before the wastewater treatment plant becomes operational.
