KaBokweni school shutdown: Community members demand school to be fixed
Today marks day four of the shutdown by community members. They are awaiting a response from the Department of Education.
Since Monday May 16, children have not been attending classes at Kusile Primary School in Phameni Trust, KaBokweni due to angry community members who closed the school, demanding for it to be rebuilt.
“The school is not a good environment for our children to be taught in. The windows are broken, the foundation is cracked to the wall and the toilets are in a terrible state,” said a community member, Benard Mavimbela.
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He told Mpumalanga News that the Department of Education had promised them in 2020 that the school would be rebuilt.
“A new school was promised. We were told that construction would begin in October 2021. When we followed up with the principal, we found that we are not getting a school.”
The EFF provincial elections manager, Zwelithini Malope, said the party is in liaison with the community members and is aware of their demands. Members of the EFF were part of the Kusile Primary shutdown.
“There are serious maintenance budget issues within the Department of Basic Education. We know that there is money allocated to maintain schools such as Kusile Primary School, but there are bogus companies that service unknown schools.”
The newspaper approached the department for a response and is still awaiting a response.
