School shut down for non-compliance in CBD
The school was overcrowded and had poor ventilation.
A school in the heart of Pretoria has recently shut down due to noncompliance with Occupational Health and Safety Act measures.
Gauteng department of education (GDE) spokesperson Steve Mabona said the department visited Purpose Finder academy this week after employment and labour department inspectors raised some concerns about the institution.
The employment and labour department, which has been on a site inspection in a neighbouring building, shut down the Grade R to 12 school citing concerns of a lack of adequate ventilation and classroom space last Thursday.
The inspectors had noticed learners peering through the windows on the second storey.
Mabona said GDE inspected the separately after the department had already shut it down.
“A site inspection is conducted on any school that is found to be operating illegally, and such schools are subsequently served with letters of closure as stated in the Regulation 308.”
Mabona said GDE was concerned over schools operating illegally in the Tshwane metro.
He said post-registration obligations were non-negotiable and the GDE welcomed the partnership with any external stakeholder that had an interest in ensuring that the rights of children are protected at all costs.
Department spokesperson Mishack Magakwe said the academy in Arcadia was served with a prohibition notice by the inspectors last Thursday.
“The school was prohibited under Section 30 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act because the number of students in the classrooms exceeded the space provided by the school.”
He said in accordance with Section 30 of the Act, his department’s inspection and enforcement services (IES) had to close the Pretoria CBD school down with immediate effect on September 29.
He said the school was prohibited from continuing operations until the department’s concerns had been rectified.
The GDE has made the following hotline numbers available to the public to assist with tackling illegal schools:
– Tebele Mohale – 060 891 0312
– Kegomoditswe Ramadiro – 060 891 0330
– Tynos Masia – 060 891 0310
🎥The Department of Employment and Labour’s Inspection and Enforcement Services inspectors have issued a prohibition notice to shut down a #Pretoria school with immediate effect as of today, 29 September 2022, in accordance to the Occupational Health and Safety Act. #OHS pic.twitter.com/uCM9h1Qvnl
— Department of Employment and Labour (@deptoflabour) September 29, 2022
IES also closed down wholesale facility – ABC Sweets on the corner of Edmund and Du Toit streets in the CBD – for non-compliance with the Act after a blitz inspection.
“The closure will remain in effect until the fire department issues the wholesaler with a compliance certificate… only then and then can the department revoke the prohibition notice,” Magakwe said.
“About 10 undocumented foreign employees were also apprehended by home affairs at the wholesaler.”
Magakwe said the inspections had so far proven that a number Gauteng employers within the targeted sectors continued to undermine labour legislation.
He said a number of undocumented foreigners and their employers had been arrested.
He said such operations would continue to bring law and order to business.
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