The community of Davidsonville in Roodepoort turned to EFF for help to get the Gauteng Department of Education act fast on the Roodepoort Primary School crisis.
“We will act if the Department does not act fast,” said the Gauteng EFF spokesperson Ntobeng Ntobeng.
He said they are not pushing a political agenda but they were officially invited by the helpless parents and community to assist.
At a peaceful meeting, together with parents and the community on 19 August, the EFF joined to show their support as buses transported pupils to another primary school where they can at least get education in the meantime.
Ntobeng said their visit follows the incident on 18 August, where community members were-tear gassed and rubber bullets fired at them by the police.
“Since this issue started, the Department has dragged their feet and there is a perception that everything is about racism, but it is not. All we found was a united community of different races, all they need is a solution to the crisis,” Ntobeng said.
But, in his statement, MEC Panyaza Lesufi said, he had more than 30 meetings with various education stakeholders in the past 11 months, in a bid to resolve challenges faced by the school.
“I have done everything that was required from me to try and deal with this matter. They have requested me to commission an independent investigation into the appointment of the principal – I have done that. They have requested me to commission a forensic audit into the finances of the school – I have done that. But they have refused all these reports simply because, they [the reports]did not favour their views,” said MEC Lesufi in his statement.
Roodepoort Record reported that before the crowd dispersed, Pastor Leon Barendse and community leader Jerome Lottering thanked the EFF for their support but made a plea for peace and asked the EFF supporters not to politicise the issue.
The provincial education spokesperson Phumla Sekhonyane said the school has been marred by acts of violence recently, forcing the provincial government to intervene and take a decision to temporarily close the school.
“A decision was taken to temporarily move the pupils of the school to neighbouring schools to ensure that their education is not compromised any further.
“This decision was rejected by some members of the community who acted violently while preventing pupils from being transported to these schools,” said Sekhonyane.
She added that provincial government is also establishing a task team comprising of religious and community leaders to mediate and find a lasting solution to challenges faced by the school.
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