Durban - The North West Department of Education said it’s devastated after a fire broke out at Mamusa Primary School in the Ipelegeng township near Schweizer-Reneke. The blaze resulted in a mobile classroom being burnt to ashes at the weekend.
It is believed nearby residents saw the mobile classroom was burning and they called the fire department while trying to put out the blaze.
“The fire destroyed the mobile classroom, desks and chairs, textbooks and workbooks and the damages are estimated at almost R180 000. The cause of the fire is being investigated,” the department said in a statement.
North West education MEC, Mmaphefo Matsemela, strongly condemned the burning of the mobile classroom.
"This is extremely disappointing that, on the same day, we celebrate Human Right’s Day as a country. We experience a violation of the same rights to education. Many died for these rights enshrined by the constitution. As a department we are mandated to protect the right to education for all learners by providing them with resources. We wish the law to take its own full course against those behind this incident,“ he said.
Matsemela said the department keeps on being drawn backwards by those opposed to progress in the education system.
“Learners have lost a lot of teaching time due to lockdown and while we try to reverse the losses, some people continue to sabotage the good efforts of the department", said Matsemela.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Cape Department of Education's Zwelitsha offices caught fire, but due to the swift response by firefighters, they managed to extinguish it in time.
“The fire was extinguished after burning only 2% of the property inside one of the Human Resources Records office was affected. Due to the quick response, a limited number of the files of the already processed leave gratuities caught fire,” said department spokesperson, Mali Mtima.
Mtima said the cause of the fire was not yet known, and a case has been opened with Zwelitsha police station to investigate the cause of the fire.
Additionally, the department said it would also seek an expert to investigate the cause of the fire.
The department assured all its ex-employees whose gratuities have not yet been paid, that all their files are safe and the department would be able to pay their dues.
“We want to assure employees, stakeholders and other social partners that the fire was contained and no other damage was reported. Lastly, the department assures all its ex-employees that even the burnt files have safe electronic backups stored for security,” Mtima said.
IOL