Potentially life threatening infrastructure issues at the Homevale High School in Kimberley require urgent attention. The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape accordingly demands that the MEC for Education, Zonakile Monakali, must arrange an urgent meeting with the necessary stakeholders to address these issues.

Earlier this week, I wrote to the MEC for Education to ask for his intervention. One of the many critical concerns is the fact that the school is literally falling apart and cannot create an environment conducive for proper learning to take place.

The severity of infrastructure challenges at the school can be seen in the scaffolding that supports a covered walkway between classrooms on the upper level. The scaffolding had been holding up this walkway since 2019. This is not structurally sound and creates a real danger for the school community.

As it stands, the school cannot afford essential projects like its autumn school. If it cannot afford to implement crucial curriculum recovery plans, where will the money come from to fix this danger?

Parents fear a similar collapse to the one at the Hoërskool Driehoek in Vanderbijlpark two years ago. One would assume that the MEC would do everything in his power to avoid a similar loss of life in Northern Cape schools, but there's been only silence and inaction from his office so far.

The department has also turned a blind eye to the broken windows and burst pipes at the school.

If he continues to fail in his duty, we will have to escalate these concerns to the national department for permanent resolution.

 

Issued by The DA