By Lebone Rodah Mosima
The DA in Gauteng has accused the provincial government (GPG) of failing to remove ageing asbestos structures from Randfontein Secondary School and Toekomsrus Primary School, saying learners and teachers remain exposed to unsafe buildings despite repeated promises to replace them.
DA Gauteng Education spokesperson Sergio Isa Dos Santos, MPL, said on Monday that teachers were continuing to work in unsafe environments that compromised their safety and dignity, despite the Gauteng government’s long-standing promise to replace asbestos schools with safe, modern infrastructure.
“During a recent sitting of the Gauteng Legislature, MEC for Infrastructure Development and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Jacob Mamabolo, failed to give a clear answer to the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) oral question on why the GPG has still not eradicated asbestos infrastructure years after missing the deadlines set out in the 2013 Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure,” Dos Santos said.
“Instead, he repeated the government’s hollow commitment to asbestos eradication, with no clear timeline or end in sight.”
Dos Santos said the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) had previously allocated about R112 million for rehabilitation and asbestos-related infrastructure upgrades at Randfontein Secondary School.
Despite that allocation, he said, a DA oversight inspection found that critical safety hazards remained unresolved, including an incomplete administration block, unfinished bathrooms, falling ceiling panels and staircases missing safety bars, all of which continued to put learners and staff at risk.
“Shockingly, the department’s so-called intervention in this school seems to have involved building brick-and-mortar structures around existing asbestos classrooms rather than completely removing them,” he said.
“Most of these structures have since deteriorated or collapsed, exposing learners and educators to cracked and broken asbestos panels.”
Dos Santos said the situation had been worsened by severe overcrowding at the school, with Grade 8 classes recording learner-to-teacher ratios of 1:50 and Grade 11 classes reaching as high as 1:73.
At Toekomsrus Primary School, Dos Santos said asbestos infrastructure remained in place and required urgent replacement.
“Some of the school’s mobile classrooms are more than 30 years old and need to be removed, while the roof blocks are in dire need of maintenance,” he said.
“Although the department assessed the school two years ago, no work has been carried out.”
Dos Santos said he was “outraged” that the GPG continued to delay the eradication of asbestos schools despite the well-known deadly health risks linked to asbestos exposure.
“The DA will escalate the issue to Premier Panyaza Lesufi for urgent intervention,” he said.
“Those responsible for these unacceptable delays must be held accountable for continuing to hold learners and educators hostage in unsafe and undignified conditions.”
INSIDE EDUCATION
