Almost two years since a sinkhole swallowed the Relebogile Secondary School’s building in Khutsong, Carltonville, nothing has been done to fix its infrastructure woes.
Pupils are being taught in poor hygienic conditions in prefabricated classes adjacent to their school grounds on land owned by a local church.
More than 1 400 pupils share 10 toilets, while 59 teachers use another three.
The low-pressure prefabricated toilets can barely flush. This leaves pupils with no choice but to fill up buckets with water from two tanks to create a forceful flush.
There is no proper drainage system or paving, making it impossible for pupils and teachers to change classes during rainy days.
Security risks have plagued the school’s temporary premises, with a community member speaking to Sunday World anonymously about the worries they have regarding the safety of the children and their teachers.
The community member said it has become the responsibility of teachers and the principal to ensure that the temporary structures are not damaged during weekends and holidays.
“At first, there was no gate at the school, which was not good. Then there was a time when the fence broke due to the bad weather. It meant that people could come in and out of the school [as they pleased]. I don’t know how many times computers were stolen from the school. It is frustrating.”
Another community member lashed out at the Gauteng Department of Education and the Department of Infrastructure Development for dragging their feet on the matter.
“Government officials keep on coming here, but nothing has changed. This has become political because Julius Malema even came to visit the school, but all that interest about our situation has died down over time.”
Jacob Mamabolo, Gauteng MEC for infrastructure development, admitted that the process of fixing the school has not been done timeously.
He further went on to say that a service provider had been appointed to conduct technical studies but there was no clear outcome, which his office will take up with the said engineering company.
“Work could have been done faster, the delay I will concede. That is a matter we say it can be done quicker and faster.
“We need to approach the engineering firm working on this case and find out why their pace is so slow,” Mamabolo told Sunday World.
He explained that dolomite studies will have to be conducted to assess the area, then there should be a meeting with all stakeholders to determine a path forward.
He could, however, not be drawn on the timeline of when the project will be completed.
“Once we have met, the budget is required. It would be risky to confirm a date when there is no firm report,” Mamabolo said.
Spokesperson for the department Steve Mabona reiterated that the matter has been budgeted for in this financial year.
“Funding has been sourced and as such the project is at stage 1, and it should take six to nine months to start construction,” according to Mabona.
He further explained what processes needed to unfold for the sinkhole to be fixed. “To fix the sinkhole, we had to appoint specialists in geotechnical engineering and dolomitic to inform a business case which was sent to the provincial treasury to source funding accordingly.”
The atrocious conditions at the school have been mentioned as the cause of their declining matric pass rate.
Following the incident in 2023, pupils were subjected to an irregular schooling timetable for three months, apart from matriculants. Relebogile Secondary School had the worst 2024 matric results in the Merafong City Local Municipality at 57.5%.
