GAUTENG Education MEC Matome Chiloane has condemned the DA’s response to a sinkhole at Relebogile Secondary School in Khutsong, Carletonville, that has disrupted teaching and learning.
He labelled the response as "sensationalistic and opportunistic".
This comes after the main opposition party said it would report the MEC to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for violating pupils’ rights to basic education.
According to the DA shadow MEC for education Khume Ramulifho, pupils have not been attending school since 9 February due to the sinkhole in the schoolyard.
"This has put the learner’s safety at risk, hence the school was shut down.
"The department is aware of the issue, and the DA has on several occasions engaged the MEC. However, he has failed to deliver on his promise to provide alternative accommodation to ensure that learning and teaching resume at this school," he said.
Also read: Classes suspended after sinkhole hits school!
During an oversight inspection at the school on Friday, 21 April, Ramulifho said they discovered that the alternative venues were not ready and pupils had not been attending school.
"We were informed that the parents of 10 learners have already indicated that they will be relocating their children to other provinces. In addition, the DA fears that more learners may leave or drop out of school, adding to the over 100 000 dropout rate from 2022," he said.
But the Gauteng department has since rubbished the political party’s response that they were not attending to the issue
The MEC said after they were made aware of the issue in February, several interventions were taken to minimise the negative impact of the disaster on pupils.
This included evacuating and stopping classes, accommodating pupils at a neighbouring school as an interim measure and implementing catch-up programmes for pupils while waiting for a permanent solution.
Chiloane said to date, about 28 mobile classrooms had been delivered and plans to finalise water connectivity to occupy the mobile units were in motion.
He said Ramulifho deliberately misinterpreted the department’s information on the number of drop-outs. Chiloane said opposition parties must refrain from exploiting the natural catastrophe at the expense of Gauteng pupils.
The MEC said they would monitor the situation at the school and ensure they provided support.He asked the community to be patient.
