Nkhensani Mthombeni
Limpopo has been plagued with infrastructure challenges for years and it looks as if things are not getting any better.
In the last three months four schools have been closed down because of safety concerns about dilapidated infrastructure.
In a fifth school only a few classrooms were closed to protect the learners.
In April, Kgwatlhele Primary School in Mokopane was closed by the Department of Employment and Labour (DEAL) due to unsafe structural classrooms. Some of the rooms had walls so badly damaged that one could see through the cracks from the outside.
On 26 May, a block of five classrooms in Mbetana Primary School in Sedan Village outside Tzaneen was prohibited from use for learning due to bad structures.
Scrolla.Africa visited the site and found some of the classrooms with cracks from the roof down the wall to the floor, with the roof looking as if it could collapse any minute.
The block is still prohibited from being used and nothing has been fixed.
On 27 May, Sigonde Primary School in Musina was closed after it was infested with bats and the old structure badly damaged.
DEAL Limpopo spokesperson Lerato Mashamba said inspectors also learned that 50 learners were absent from school due to illness, reportedly from the infestation.
Some classes at Ratjeke Primary School in Bolobedu were closed earlier this month with DEAL saying the school was in a terrible condition overall.
Two dilapidated buildings and the two burnt mobile classrooms were prohibited for use.
The dilapidated buildings are at risk of collapse.
According to the DA, the school received two new mobile classrooms on Wednesday, 8 June, after the party visited the office of the MEC to demand that the school be prioritised. The mobile classrooms are being used for teaching and learning.
Last week Jack Lavhengwa Secondary School in Makhado was also closed down for contravention of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The school has 250 learners and 24 educators who were using pit toilets which did not have a roof, doors or toilet paper.
According to Mashamba, the mobile classes did not have a proper structure and the school did not have a certificate of compliance for electrification nor a risk assessment plan. Its fire extinguisher was last serviced in 2008.
DEAL has given all the schools 60 days to comply and fix the problems.
The Limpopo department of education was allocated R1,534-billion for infrastructure for the 2022/2023 financial year.
Spokesperson Tidimalo Chuene Limpopo could not comment when asked what the department is doing to resolve infrastructure issues in the province.
