![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/118/2020/01/11036254_163147147356288_5811985181143318860_n-1.jpg)
The department had earlier rushed to the school after a fire broke out in the early hours of the morning before pupils were expected to arrive for the first day of the 2020 school year.
“One learner, while we were still standing here, we are informed that she then consumed a poisonous substance and she collapsed. A medical assistance came and she was taken to a nearby hospital,” says Mabona.
“We are just hopeful that she can make it.”
Mabona urged pupils to approach school management when in distress.
“We would normally want to say to our learners ‘you don’t need to take your own life, it’s not doom and gloom if you have failed, you still have an opportunity to come back”.
“If you need some assistance the professional assistance is there.”