Sinkhole disaster at school
Classes have not yet resumed at Relebogile Secondary School in Khutsong South after a sinkhole caved in at the school this week.
Luckily, the learners were not at the school when the earth collapsed underneath the toilets and a kitchen on Thursday morning.
The student union Cosas (Congress of South African Students) handed over a memorandum about the issues at the school the day before, citing “unhealthy, unsafe and unstable infrastructure”. They gave the principal three days to respond, during which learners would not attend classes. The regional convenor of Cosas and a learner at the school, Konke Nohatala, signed a memorandum on the matter.
The Gauteng Department of Education’s spokesperson, Mr Steve Mabona, responded to questions from the Herald within hours of the sinkhole caving in. The newspaper specifically asked what steps would be taken to ensure that teaching continued and what had been done about earlier complaints about sewerage issues and unsafe prefabricated buildings at the school.
“The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) is aware of and concerned about the matter. Consequently, our infrastructure unit was dispatched to the school for intervention.
“We are currently identifying areas where learners can be placed at various churches and community centres so effective teaching and learning can continue.
“It must be noted that Merafong and Westonaria are dolomitic areas. Each time there are earth tremors, sinkholes develop.
“A geo-tech study has to be conducted to determine the severity of the sinkholes, what future challenges will be, and what preventative measures are in place to deal with such challenges to avoid a natural disaster. All infrastructural challenges detected will also be attended to accordingly. We will continue to monitor the situation at the school,” says Mabona.
Despite the promises, learners were at home on Tuesday. The Herald learned that a meeting was set for yesterday, Wednesday, 15 February, to discuss the matter with all the parties involved. However, the outcome of the meeting was not known by the time the newspaper went to print.
On Tuesday, the Herald asked the department whether it had reached any conclusion on what would happen to the school in the long term. No answers were available by print time.
