Learners warned of unsafe situation at Relebogile
Less than a day before a sinkhole caved in at Relebogile Secondary School in Khutsong South the student union Cosas (Congress of South African Students) warned of “unhealthy, unsafe and unstable infrastructure” at the school.
They gave the principal of the school three days to respond, during which learners would not be attending school. The regional convener of Cosas, who is also a learner at the school, Konke Nohatala, signed a memorandum about the matter.
Because of this there were no learners at the school when the sinkhole caved in under boys’ and girls’ toilets and a kitchen this morning.
According to parents and learners at the school this morning, learners have also been complaining about blocked toilets since the school reopened.
The MMC of Infrastructure Development in the West Rand District Municipality, the Merafong resident Ms Mantshadi Teleko, said at the scene that further investigations will be done to see whether these sewerage issues might have been part of the cause of the sinkhole.
She says the District Municipality established a special committee to look into sinkholes only weeks ago.
Although the Herald sent questions about the sinkhole to the Gauteng Department of Education’s spokesperson, Mr Steve Mabona, this morning he has not yet responded. The newspaper asked, in particular, what steps would be taken to ensure that the learners’ education continued and what was done about earlier complaints about the sewerage issues and unsafe prefabricated buildings at the school.
