Master Builders Association Western Cape says the local sector has A-plus credentials to ensure the education department’s Rapid Schools Build Programme passes with flying colours
Cape Town, Schooling in the Western Cape is facing significant challenges in the form of crippling budget cuts and a lack of classroom space to accommodate learners in the province.
At the start of the 2025 academic year, the provincial government confirmed that 2,677 Grade 1 and 8 learners had yet to be placed at junior and high schools. This followed a November announcement by the Western Cape Government (WCG) that it would reduce teaching posts by 2,407.
The arrival of schoolchildren from other provinces and the rapid growth of the Western Cape’s learner population have put immense pressure on the education system. The province also has far more primary schools than high schools. At the same time, rolling out mobile classrooms on the grounds of existing schools also carries a saturation limit.
However, the Master Builders Association Western Cape (MBAWC) believes the provincial building industry, working in concert with the WCG, can majorly address these challenges.
The department has already initiated several projects aimed at expanding learner capacity.
These include building new schools in high-demand areas and upgrading existing facilities, collaborating with private construction firms to expedite the construction process and share resources, encouraging local contractors to participate in tender processes, and involving local communities in ensuring that new schools meet the specific needs of the areas they serve.
WCG’s Rapid School Build Programme (RSB).
MBAWC Executive Director Petra Devereux says the Western Cape’s construction industry is well-positioned to help address the education crisis through innovative techniques such as modular construction and sustainable building practices, which align with the RSB’s goals.
“Utilising prefabricated modules allows for quicker assembly and reduces construction time significantly, making it ideal for urgent educational needs, while implementing green building techniques, such as energy-efficient designs and sustainable materials, can reduce long-term operational costs and environmental impact,” she says.
The MBAWC is also a staunch advocate for project management software that can streamline workflows, enhance communication, and improve project tracking, ensuring that timelines and budgets are adhered to.
Devereux adds that the construction sector’s existing infrastructure and supply chains can facilitate the rapid mobilisation of resources needed for school construction.
Devereux’s colleague, MBAWC Marketing Committee Chairperson Chandre Abrahams, points out that while rapid timelines pose an element of risk, these structures’ longevity factors are not compromised. The programme is subject to the same industry regulatory oversights to encourage quality and a shorter delivery timeline.
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He, too, suggests a range of positive outcomes, including increased demand for construction services within communities, job creation, scaling of the programme through the combination of traditional and innovative building methods, building trust through public and private participation, and long-term economic growth.
MBAWC members contracted to the RSB project by the WCG are allowed to appoint consultants and subcontractors on a cost-reimbursement basis.
They are then issued a brief describing the education departments requirements for a new school. The brief details all the requirements and specifications to be applied by the professional consultants and management contractor in a design and construct contract to deliver a new school on the specified site. The contractors then employ all the professional consultants required to deliver the new school.
These consultants include the architect, engineers, quantity surveyors, traffic impact assessors, environmental consultants, safety consultants, and social facilitators. With input and stage approvals from the WCG and approval from the relevant authorities, the design team produces a new school design ready for construction.
Contractors ideally work with previously disadvantaged local contractors and suppliers to construct the school. They also manage communication with the local community, and all interested parties and the contractual aspects of the new build, including insurance, performance guarantees, quality, safety, the programme and payments.
This model has already delivered several rapid-build primary schools within the Cape Town metro.
Whereas a new school can traditionally take up to three years to complete, this model can deliver a new school within a year.
Ultimately, the building sector can play a significant role in delivering spaces that are not only versatile but can be utilised to uplift communities and upskill beneficiaries in the process.
