Relebogile Secondary School in Khutsong faces ongoing challenges
The sinkhole caved in under the school almost two years ago, but it is still not fixed.

Almost two years after a sinkhole caved in at Relebogile Secondary School in Khutsong government departments are still shifting the blame to solve the issue.
On Tuesday, Relebogile Secondary School was again the school with the worst matric results in the Merafong City Local Municipality. This school’s 2024 matric group only had a pass rate of 57.5%.
The learners from this school, however, have been receiving classes in prefabricated classrooms across from their real school building.
The school has not yet been fixed after a sinkhole caved in under the toilets in February 2023.
“The temporary classrooms are cramped and poorly ventilated, dusty, and the fencing is unsafe. The conditions are far from conducive to learning, and the safety of the students is a constant concern. I remembered the countless meetings with officials from the Department of Education, where they had been assured that the rehabilitation of the school was a top priority,” says Konke Nohatala, the school’s former RCL president and Regional Secretary of Cosas during the year that the sinkhole caved in.
According to Nohatala, who is currently a student at NWU, he does not understand why the issues have not yet been attended to.
“My heart swelled with frustration and disappointment as I thought about the lost opportunities and compromised education that the students of the school had endured. The Department of Education’s failure to deliver on their promises had let down not just the students, but the entire community,” he complains.
The Herald asked the spokesperson of the Gauteng Department of Education, Steve Mabona, about when the school would be fixed last week.
“Please interact with DID,” was Mabona’s only response.
The Herald then contacted the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure and Development (DID) about the matter.
“The Relebogile Secondary School scope for the rehabilitation of a sinkhole is indeed being implemented by the Department of Infrastructure Development (DID). The project execution plan report for the condition assessment stage was sent to the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) in January 2024 and awaiting feedback. The project was not allocated a budget in the 2023/24 financial year. The DID hopes the project is allocated a budget in the next financial year, which will allow us to proceed to the next stages of development. The DID will only proceed once a budget is allocated and the project report is approved by the GDE,” said their spokesperson, Theo Nkonki.