Up to 77 learners in a classroom at school outside Mokopane
Bosveld previously reported the Labour Department closed Kgwatlhele Primary School in April due to the unsafe conditions caused by the building structure.
MOKOPANE – Unsafe conditions due to dilapidated infrastructure at Kgwatlhele Primary School outside Mokopane raised concern among community members.
Asked for comment, the principal, Thivedi Ledwaba confirmed that learners in grades R, 2, 3, 4 and 7 had to share a space since April this year, which adds up to 77 learners per classroom.
It has been almost a year since the Department of Education promised to provide mobile classrooms, but nothing has been done yet, a source confirmed.
Bosveld previously reported the Labour Department closed Kgwatlhele Primary School in April due to the unsafe conditions caused by the building structure.
“The school was closed by labour inspectors to safeguard the learners and teachers,” said Lerato Mashamba, provincial communication officer in a media statement in which the department prohibited the use of certain classrooms since the closure.
The closure was enforced after a complaint by parents during the first week of April about the state of the school buildings.
A notice for a reactive administrative and a walk-through inspection was served to Ledwaba on April 12.
“Part of the building was not compliant with the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act,” Mashamba explained.
She added that cracks are visible from the inside and outside of the building, which poses an immediate danger of structural failure and/or collapse.
Mashamba said in the statement the administration building has cracks visible from the bottom of the foundation to the top of the roof.
“Subsequent to the prohibition notice issued, the Department of Basic Education was also issued with a contravention notice for failing to conduct a hazards identification and risk assessment, failing to ensure that the electrical installation is done safely by a competent person, and additionally could not produce a copy of the Certificate of Compliance for electrical installation, which is a legal requirement to assure the building users and inspectors that the installation is safe.”
Departmental spokesperson Mike Maringa confirmed that the department is aware of the conditions at the school.
“The District Infrastructure Unit will facilitate the procurement of mobile classrooms as an interim measure and the school was added to the list of infrastructural projects prioritised in the next year.”
He says their contract with the service provider that supplied the mobile classrooms ended and that procurement processes had to start afresh.
“We are in the process to finalise the contract. There are many schools in need of mobile classrooms, of which Kgwatlhele Primary School is one. We will start to deliver classrooms next year.”
