Office of the Premier 2020/01/14 - 22:00
Staff Writer
2020/01/15
The re-opening of schools on Wednesday 15 January 2020 was a bitter, sweet day for Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi, who was excited to hand over the newly revamped Noordgesig Primary School in Soweto, but was equally distressed by the news of the burning of the administration block at Khutlo-Tharo Secondary School in Sebokeng on Wednesday morning.
"As we open this school, someone decided to burn another school this morning. It was burnt by senseless people. The community must point out who did that damage and the people must be arrested", said MEC Lesufi as he handed over the newly revamped Noordgesig Primary School in Soweto.
Learners at Khutlo-Tharo, shared in Lesufi's distress, as they were sent home to allow forensic experts to investigate the cause of the fire, and there would therefore be no schooling for them.
Gauteng Premier, David Makhura, accompanied by MEC for Education, later visited Khutlo-Tharo Secondary School to meet with management and assess the extent of the damage.
Lesufi appealed to members of the community to work with the law enforcement officers to ensure that those responsible for the fire are brought to book.
"We can't build schools for criminals to destroy. Actually, we're building these schools to liberate criminals because if their children are liberated, there'll be no need for them to do the things that they're doing. We're going to tell the community to own up and assist us to get these criminals that are burning our schools", said MEC Lesufi.
He added his department is working tirelessly to ensure that schooling resumes at the school on Thursday, 16 January 2020, after the disruptions brought about by the fire on Wednesday.
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