Note to Editors: Please find English soundbite by Sergio Isa Dos Santos MPL.
Following arson attacks that occurred at Lancea Vale Secondary School in Eldorado Park yesterday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) conducted an oversight inspection at the school today. The fire endangered the lives of pupils and teachers and disrupted learning, during a crucial period of the school year, especially for matriculants.
This incident highlights the urgent need for the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) to ensure that all schools have adequate safety equipment, including regularly serviced fire extinguishers, and that any reported maintenance issues are attended to as a matter of urgency.
During our visit, we discovered that three separate fire incidents were intentionally started on the school premises. One fire destroyed three classrooms, the second one caused minor damage to the boys’ toilet, and the third one burned part of the school’s grass in the open space.
We also found that the school lacks proper firefighting equipment that would have assisted in quenching the fire. The school’s fire extinguishers have been vandalised and are no longer working.
See the images here, here, and here.
It is concerning that the fire hose next to the classrooms and on the ground floor, where the fire started, was vandalised earlier in the year and was never fixed.
The GDE must provide immediate psychosocial support to the learners and educators affected by this traumatic incident and supply alternative temporary classrooms to ensure that learning and teaching can continue uninterrupted. We also call for an immediate assessment by a structural engineer to determine the safety of the damaged building and the classrooms below the burned areas.
The department must outline the immediate steps that will be taken to repair the damaged classrooms and toilet facilities. A clear timeline for the completion of these repairs should be communicated.
In a DA government, the current school safety strategies would be thoroughly reviewed to enhance security measures, improve school infrastructure, and foster stronger partnerships between schools, law enforcement, and community organisations. This multi-faceted approach would effectively address the challenges confronting our schools, such as infrastructure, safety, and security for learners. We will continue to pressure GDE for tangible and impactful change in our schools.