Criminality suspected after KZN school loses classroom and two storerooms in fire

The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for education Kwazi Mshengu has said that “some kind of criminality” is suspected after a school in the province lost a classroom and two storerooms in a fire on Wednesday.

Estcourt and Midland News reported Bambazi High School, Bergville, KwaZulu-Natal, was damaged in a fire on Wednesday, prompting local fire services to rush to the scene at around 6 pm.

Mshengu told News24 journalist Kaveel Singh that the police are investigating “what exactly happened” and to find the “culprits” behind the fire.

The MEC said it was certain that “somebody set the school alight”, adding, “we can’t suspect any other thing”.

Mshengu said since the schools in the province were closed before the nationwide lockdown no issues had arisen “accept what we have seen” at Bambazi High School.

“We are indeed suspecting some kind of criminality involved but we will be working with the police to confirm really what happened,” Mshengu said.

He called on communities throughout the province to continue to “protect our schools” during the lockdown and he called on witnesses of “suspicious acts” to immediately contact law enforcement agencies.

“It means now we need to put more resources into that school so that when the schools reopen, the learners in that school don’t have to suffer because the classrooms are burnt,” Mshengu said, adding that only a few classrooms were burnt at the school.

In a statement on Thursday, the provincial department of education said that according to the school principal, one classroom was badly destroyed while other classrooms were slightly affected.

“We are going to definitely investigate this and as a department, we call on anyone who may have information that could assist the investigation to come forward and present such information to the authorities.”

Estcourt and Midland News reported that Okhahlamba Local Municipality Mayor Mlungisi Ndlangisa said that while the cause of the fire is still to be determined, he suspected that in-fighting between learners from this school and another school from Stulwane might have sparked the flame.

(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu)

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