School Fire Leaves Hundreds of Learners Without Classrooms

For the second time in a year, Riverlea Secondary School in Johannesburg has been damaged by fire.

A blaze broke out early on Tuesday evening, the day before the school reopened after the Easter holiday, gutting several classrooms, a laboratory and a library.

The fire burned for much of the night as community members and firefighters tried to contain it.

A staff member said about 300 learners are affected by the damage. The affected classrooms were mainly used by grade 8 and 9 learners. The entire block was unusable on Wednesday, as even classrooms not directly damaged by the fire are still filled with the strong smell of smoke and are considered unsafe.

Learners have been temporarily placed in the school hall until other arrangements can be made.

At the end of April last year, a fire destroyed 11 classrooms behind the building that burned on Tuesday. Police opened an arson case, and the Gauteng Department of Education provided mobile classrooms for affected learners.

Three young people were arrested for last year’s incident, said education department spokesperson Steve Mabona. Police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said the investigation was still ongoing and police were “awaiting the fire report”.

The classrooms destroyed in last year’s fire have still not been repaired and are unusable.

Mabona said it is still too early to determine what caused Tuesday’s fire.

He said police and fire investigators are collecting information and working with community members to assess whether arson may be involved.

“It is a difficult and sad situation … We will normally re-emphasise that communities need to understand that we are highly pressured. And if we have a situation whereby schools are burnt and we need to come back and provide infrastructure to schools, it becomes difficult,” said Mabona.

Keagan Everson, the school’s governing body chairperson, said eyewitnesses reported seeing young people running around in the school a short while before the fire started.

“One of the biggest issues we have is that our entire perimeter wall is damaged. So there are entry points at the back of the school due to the damaged wall,” said Everson.

He said he is appealing to the government to provide additional security, improve lighting, and repair the school’s perimeter wall to help protect its infrastructure.

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