DA says JA Calata fire exposes deeper Eastern Cape school crisis

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says the fire damage at JA Calata Senior Secondary School has exposed what it describes as a deeper collapse in school infrastructure delivery across the Eastern Cape.

In a statement issued on Friday, DA Shadow MEC for Education Horatio Hendricks alleged that the school was damaged following alleged arson attacks after contractors reportedly abandoned the site due to non-payment by the Eastern Cape Department of Education.

According to the DA, once work on the project stopped and the site was left unsecured, the unfinished infrastructure became vulnerable to vandalism, theft and eventual destruction.

The party further claimed that learners had been displaced, while neighbouring schools were forced to accommodate additional pupils due to the disruption.

Hendricks said the DA would write to the Chairperson of the Provincial Education Portfolio Committee requesting a full report into the circumstances surrounding the project. This includes the alleged non-payment of contractors, security failures at the site and the increasing number of stalled infrastructure projects across the province.

The statement links the incident at JA Calata to wider infrastructure challenges facing schools in the Eastern Cape.

According to parliamentary replies referenced by the DA, 138 infrastructure projects identified for the 2025/26 financial year were reduced to 86 due to budget constraints, while 52 projects were deferred.

The DA further stated that only six projects have been completed during the current financial year, while 35 remain under construction and 22 projects have allegedly been suspended or terminated.

Hendricks also claimed that the Department confirmed that R154 million has already been spent on terminated projects across the province.

The DA further alleged that not a single new brick-and-mortar school has been constructed in the Eastern Cape over the past five years.

“The destruction at JA Calata cannot be dismissed as an isolated incident,” Hendricks said in the statement.

He added that schools remain overcrowded, projects stand abandoned for years and incomplete infrastructure is left exposed to vandalism and destruction.