Kamogelo Olaitan
More than 50 learners fell ill at a school in Musina that had to be closed after a colony of bats was found in the roof.
The bats were discovered at the Sigonde Primary School on Monday by a health and safety inspector from the Department of Employment and Labour.
Departmental spokesperson Lerato Mashamba said the school was found to be non-compliant with the Occupational Health Act 85 of 1993. The Act says that if the state of a building threatens the health and safety of persons then the building should be prohibited immediately.
Acting provincial inspector Reckson Tshitshivheli said that during the inspection on Tuesday 24 May, he learnt that 50 learners were absent from school. They had reported being sick from the bat infestation.
Bats weren’t the only problem. Educators alleged that the bats attracted snakes, which had to be killed on a weekly basis.
The department said the classrooms’ roofs of grades R, 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 contained bats which posed a danger to the health and safety of learners and teachers potentially causing sickness and possibly death.
The school also has structural problems: among them, the doorpost of the grade 4 classrooms is cracked and overlaps the classroom next door.
The only functional classroom in the whole school is the mobile structure used by grade 2 learners. The department said the entire school will remain closed until corrections are made.
Provincial Department of Education spokesperson Tidimalo Chuene confirmed that the school was closed and that they were still waiting for a full report from their own inspectors.
