President Jacob Zuma has announced that government has delivered water to 203 schools, sanitation to 226 schools, and electricity to 150 schools.

This was part of the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Development Initiative (ASIDI) which sought to provide basic services such as water, electricity and sanitation to schools. It forms part of government’s 13th Strategic Infrastructure Project (SIP). The R8.2 billion programme aims to eradicate the 496 mud schools in the country, provide water and sanitation to 1 257 schools and electricity to 878 schools by March 2016.

“It pains us to see children being taught in dilapidated schools with no toilets, water or electricity, which is why this will be an ongoing programme to replace all inappropriate schools, no matter how long it takes us to do so,” Zuma said at the official opening of Ngidini Primary School in the Eastern Cape. The former mud school was part of the infrastructure delivery initiative.