Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has expressed his disappointment at the slow pace of renovations that started five years ago at Thubelihle High School, saying the infrastructure challenges were long identified.
Lesufi was responding to the shutdown of the Soweto school by angry parents and pupils who exposed the poor state of the school in White City.
He said a budget was set aside and allocated for the refurbishment of Thubelihle. “We hope that the DID [department of infrastructure development] will complete this project accordingly,” said Lesufi.
The provincial department of education said through its department of infrastructure development, R12-million was allocated towards the renovation project five years ago, but the implementation agent failed to deliver.
It said in a statement: “We share the parents’ frustration and call upon the department of infrastructure development to fast-track the process of appointing a new contractor after terminating the current one.”
The school currently utilises mobile classrooms that parents say are not in a good condition, alleging that some do not even have the windows and doors. They also complain that the school’s roofing is leaking and could collapsed anytime, placing the lives of pupils at risk.
Thubelihle’s school governing body agreed later on Thursday that teaching and learning should be allowed to resume on Friday.
Soweto parents shut down ‘high-risk’ Thubelihle High School
For more education news from Sunday World, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
