MORE than 450 kids and 16 teachers were left devastated.
This after fuming parents stormed and removed them from the dilapidated Godide High School in Rolle outside Thulamahashe near Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga on Thursday, 29 February.
They shut down what they described as a "deathtrap" school waiting to kill their kids.
The parents said 16 classrooms and admin blocks are partly sinking or crumbling down and must be demolished immediately.
They claimed the school's infrastructure was a home for deadly snakes.
School governing body's Busi Khoza said the school's condition is deteriorating.
"We're killing deadly mambas, and kids and teachers are no longer safe. They're afraid of even using this dilapidated infrastructure anymore. Part of the buildings you can see for yourself are sinking with terrible wall cracks and falling roofs.
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"They're drastically eaten away by termites. It can collapse anytime and kill our kids. Several times, we have raised this problem with the Department of Education. But all our cries fell on deaf ears. They kept making empty promises," Busi said.
Angry parent Sakky Ntimane said the department only built ablution toilets and a new fence a few years ago.
"It hurts when being ignored by the department supposed to deliver quality education and good infrastructure to the community. We can't tolerate it our kids' food cooked in the open-air kitchen. Imagine a teacher's office shares a kitchen or is storing the pots and other valuable things for feeding scheme," he said.
Another parent, Jabulani Mkhatshwa, said the school was built by parents around 1975, and the ANC-led government never bothered improving its conditions.
"There will be no school until our demands are met. Enough is enough!" Jabulani said.
Department of Education spokesman Jasper Zwane said a contractor has already been appointed for the demolition of the existing 16 classrooms.
