By Lebone Rodah Mosima
A devastating fire destroyed an entire classroom block earlier this week, affecting 320 learners in Grades 8 and 9 at the Riverlea Secondary School in Johannesburg.
Gauteng Education MEC, Lebogang Maile, visited the school on Wednesday and conducted a walkabout to assess the extent of the structural damage.
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Maile said that the affected learners are currently being accommodated in the school hall as the school works with the District Office on an interim arrangement.
Maile believes the school burning was deliberately carried out, arguing that this act shouldn’t be justified.
“There can be no justification to burn a school – doesn’t matter how angry people can be,” Maile said.
“We can’t and we must never try to make it appear like it’s reason enough to do something like this. It’s criminal, it’s unacceptable.”
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He mentioned that, despite reports from community activists about the incident, only a few of these activists are suspected of being involved in setting the fire.
“You’ve got a lot of community involvement and activism, but there are those elements – we must isolate them, identify them and deal with them, decisively,” he said.
“Those are criminals, they can’t be entertained, so they must be locked in jail.”
The Gauteng Department of Education added that although three other classrooms were not destroyed, they remain unusable for now due to smoke damage and will require cleaning before they can be occupied.
Maile further said that the department has engaged with school management on the “immediate interventions required to support the school community, including temporary alternative accommodation for the learners, and on the way forward to restore the affected infrastructure.”
He outlined that this visit is part of the ongoing efforts by the department to ensure teaching and learning continue with minimal disruption as Term 2 begins, while plans are finalised to rehabilitate the damaged facilities.
The department further said that plans are underway to address the damage caused.
