CLASSES at the sunken Relebogile Secondary have been suspended until further notice.
The Gauteng Department of Education said it’s working around the clock to find alternative places where learning and teaching could resume.
The high school in Khutsong, Carletonville saw part of the school caving in due to a sinkhole in the school yard last Thursday.
No one was injured as there were no kids at the school.
Teachers and the supporting staff had to be immediately evacuated as there were fears that the sinkhole would get worse.
School Governing Body chairman Fanie Monnapula said the Geotech team is at the school to conduct surveys.
He said Relebogile secondary was not the only school affected by sinkholes in Khutsong.
“We thought our ground was stable until the incident on Thursday proved us wrong,” he said.
“We are worried about grade 12s because they are losing out and it may be hard to recover,” he said.
He said although the focus is on grade 12s, parents are also worried about other pupils who are in lower grades.
Gauteng education spokesman Steve Mabona said the department is in the process of identifying areas where pupils could be placed at various churches and community, so that effective teaching and learning may continue.
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“It must be noted that Merafong and Westonaria are dolomitic areas. Each time there are earth tremors, sinkholes develop,” said Mabona.
A dolomitic area is a term used to describe an area that had dolomite, a rock type, directly under it or at a shallow depth.
‘A Geotech study has to be conducted to determine the severity of sinkholes and what future challenges are going to be, and what preventative measures are in place to deal with such challenges to avoid a natural disaster,” said Mabona
He said the department will continue to monitoring the situation at the school.
