On 5 April this year, learners and teachers felt some unusual movement in the classrooms.
The school informed the department and the West Rand District Municipality sent engineers to the school to assess the building’s integrity.
They declared the classrooms unsafe for teaching and learning. Since then, all the learners except matrics have been unable to attend classes every day, as a part of the school building was closed.
The Herald learnt this week that the structural damage at the school had been properly assessed and that it had been given the go-ahead to re-open.
On Monday, the school held a meeting with the parents to say their children would be able to attend classes as before.
On Tuesday, the parents also received an SMS to inform them that the Merafong City Local Municipality and Gauteng Department of Education had given the go-ahead for the school to re-open on Wednesday.
“All Gr 8 to 12 learners must report in full uniform with books,” the message read.
The Herald contacted the Gauteng Department of Education’s spokesperson, Mr Steve Mabona, for more information on Tuesday.
He says engineers conducted several inspections and compiled reports for the department to find permanent solutions.
The school’s maintenance committee had also inspected the school regularly and carried out minor maintenance where necessary. All the defects were communicated to the GDE.
In 2015, the education department repaired the stairwells by installing metal frames and brackets to support them.
As far as could be determined, it was this building work that had caused the problems. The builders had evidently cemented over the expansion zones, which cracked with the natural movement of the structure.
The situation was, therefore, not as dangerous as previously thought.
