The EFF Provincial Secretary in the North West, Papiki Babuile, tells OFM News that the Klipgat Secondary School in Madibeng in the Bojanala District, and the Thule Primary School in the Ratlou District were allegedly closed by the Department of Labour after the inspectors deemed the building unsafe for learners. Babuile alleges that Labour discovered that the building had major cracks that posed a huge risk to learners and teachers at the schools. Babuile says that this is the crisis that the province is dealing with in all the districts within the North West. He says that learners from Klipgat Secondary and Thule Primary have been subjected to conducting their studies under trees and in parking lots.

“We visited the schools about a month ago, as part of our oversight role as members of the Legislature, and we saw those walls were not in a good state. They had huge cracks and the school was dilapidated. We then wrote a report and in the last legislature sitting we informed the department about the whole situation,” he adds.

Babuile further adds that the Education Department in North West has failed to renovate most schools because it has been diverting the allocated money to other provinces. He says that they have been constantly advising the department to employ competent people that can ensure that services are provided. Babuile also stated that they marched to the Premier’s office to hand out a memorandum of demand that suggest the removal of MECs who are not competent to provide services to people of the North West Province.

OFM News