By Levy Masiteng
A case of malicious damage to property has been opened at Alexandra Police Station after four desks and two chairs were destroyed by fire at Eastbank High School in Alexandra, Gauteng.
The incident, which took place on Tuesday, disrupted teaching and learning at the already overcrowded school, prompting Gauteng Education MEC Lebogang Maile to condemn the destruction of school property.
According to the Gauteng Department of Education, a preliminary report indicated that the furniture was destroyed by fire on the school premises.
Maile said the school would institute disciplinary proceedings against learners identified in connection with the incident.
“We are deeply disappointed and disturbed by what has happened at Eastbank High School. There is absolutely no excuse for burning education infrastructure, learning materials or furniture,” said Maile.
“We cannot complain about shortages today and destroy the very same scarce resources tomorrow. Every desk and every chair matters, particularly in a school already experiencing severe pressure on its available resources.”
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The incident came as Eastbank High grapples with major resource and capacity challenges.
According to the department, the school was built to accommodate about 1,200 learners but currently has 2,063, meaning it is accommodating 863 more learners than it was designed for.
The furniture shortage is equally severe, with the school reporting a need for about 1,200 desks and 600 chairs.
The department said it has already delivered 1,000 chairs and 150 desks during 2026, bringing the total furniture delivered this year to 1,150 pieces.
Despite this intervention, significant shortages remain.
“When a school tells us it needs another 1,200 desks and approximately 600 chairs, burning four desks and two chairs cannot be dismissed as an insignificant act,” Maile said.
“Six pieces of furniture destroyed means six resources have been removed from an already constrained school environment. Government must now replace resources that should still have been available to learners. This cycle of destruction and replacement is unsustainable.”
The department has also responded to reports that the furniture was burned because learners were cold due to broken classroom windows.
It said all windows at the school had been repaired during the previous year and that the school started the 2026 academic year without broken windows.
The school has since reported that approximately 60 windows require repairs following recent learner damage.
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The department also said extensive repairs to doors were carried out about three months ago, but eight doors currently require further repairs.
“We started the academic year with the windows repaired. Today, we are again confronted with approximately 60 windows requiring attention,” said Maile.
“We repaired doors three months ago, and eight doors again require repairs. This cannot become a revolving door where government and schools continuously spend limited public money repairing the same infrastructure because it is repeatedly damaged.”
Maile called on School Governing Bodies to strengthen the management of resources and ensure routine maintenance is dealt with before problems become more expensive.
“We cannot have schools struggling indefinitely with simple maintenance matters where resources and responsibilities exist at school level. SGBs have an important governance responsibility. They must budget properly, prioritise maintenance and ensure that the resources entrusted to schools are managed prudently,” he said.
The department said it would continue working with the school leadership and SGB to address the immediate furniture shortages, maintenance problems and overcrowding.
It will also cooperate with SAPS in the malicious damage to property investigation and ensure disciplinary processes are followed against learners implicated in the incident.
The department said counselling and support structures had also been activated following the death of a popular teacher at the school.
“We understand that learners are grieving. We understand the pain associated with losing a teacher who played such an important role in their lives. We will support them through that grief. But grief cannot become a licence to destroy,” Maile said.
“We must end this culture of hooliganism. We will acknowledge our shortcomings and fix what government is responsible for fixing. We expect SGBs to fulfil their responsibilities. But we equally expect learners, parents and communities to protect what belongs to them,” Maile said.
