About 644 matriculants and grade 11 learners from uMzilikazi Senior Secondary School near Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, have been forced to start the term at a school in a neighbouring community after their classrooms were destroyed by thunderstorms last month.
Just after Christmas, severe thunderstorms levelled six prefabricated classrooms and damaged ten others. Only six classrooms were deemed safe enough for a school with over 1,600 learners.
School Governing Body (SGB) chairperson Nduduzo Madi said the provincial education department had promised them nine prefab units, but nothing has arrived. They then approached Sgodiphola Primary School in Mndozo for help.
Sgodiphola made 13 classrooms temporarily available “to ensure every learner starts working on the first day”, said Madi.
Madi said education MEC Sipho Hlomuka visited the school in 2024 and said that if the school achieved a 100% pass rate, he would build them a new school.
Since they notified him that they had achieved this goal, their calls have gone unanswered, said Madi. Questions sent to Hlomuka were unanswered at the time of publication.
GroundUp visited both schools on Wednesday. Every classroom was overcrowded with about 60 to 70 learners in each. Teachers have little space to move around between learners as chairs and desks are tightly packed.
uMzilikazi SGB member Zethu Mncube Sithole said the school is the only no-fee high school close to wards 3 and 5. This has resulted in rising enrolment, despite the school’s ageing buildings and lack of resources.
Sithole said a teacher was injured after stepping in a hole inside a prefab class. “We reported it, including broken windows, doors, and the collapsed structure but nothing was done.”
A matriculant told GroundUp, “We will not be able to do extra classes because Sgodiphola Primary School is far from where we live. It’s hard to cope.”
Department spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said they were waiting on the supplier before more prefab classrooms could be sent to the school.
He blamed the school’s management for the overcrowding. “Schools should not allow learners to enrol beyond their capacity, unless it is the only school in the area.”
Mahlambi said the department had “financial problems”.
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