Parents at Ramose Primary School in Luka village, near Rustenburg, said they are concerned about the safety of their children after the school was burnt down by unknown people.
The community was shocked to see how the fire at the school destroyed the computer lab with 40 computers, photocopiers and printers, mathematics lab (one projector, one screen, manipulative cupboard, interactive board and 18 tables), National School Nutrition Programme storage (food for pupils), teaching material (stationery and textbooks) and a block of toilets for girls and boys at midnight on February 12.
Now, one of the parents at the school, Tsietsi Rasetlola, the father of Grade 1 pupil Katlego, called on the North West Department of Education to appoint security guards.
“Our children will continue to suffer a massive disruption. We have been trying to engage with the North West MEC for Education, Wendy Matsemela for the past three years to appoint security guards at the school.
“However, our request fell on deaf ear because she said the department does not have enough budget for that. We are so dejected because this is the future of our children that is taken for granted,” he said.
Another parent, Maki Khunou, shared the same sentiment and said the department needed to ensure there was a recovery programme for the pupils. “We call on our community to desist from burning and torching schools. We cannot have individuals within our community who execute criminal activities while we keep quiet.
“Let us stand up and combat this element of crime. As the community, we have contri-buted in building that school and being burnt down like that is uncalled for,” she said.
Matsemela said: “The cause of the fire is still unknown but the school community suspects that it was a criminal act.
“We really want to condemn the incident in the strongest terms it deserves. Such incidents are clearly targeted at delaying the provisioning of education to an African child. These incidents are aimed at destroying the right to education enshrined by the South African constitution.”
She said they wished for the full might of the law to be used to find those responsible and sent them to jail where they belonged. Matsemela further said the school had opened a case of arson at the local police station.
North West police spokesperson Adele Myburgh confirmed that a case of arson was opened but said no one had been arrested yet.
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