Special school safety ‘cannot be compromised’

Generic pic of blackboard and chalk

Generic pic of blackboard and chalk

Published Aug 29, 2015

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Klerksdorp - The safety of pupils at special schools cannot be compromised, North West education MEC Wendy Matsemela said on Saturday.

“We cannot compromise the safety and security at our special schools and mega farm schools,” she said at the funeral of Dinah Koli, one of the girls who died when a fire broke out at the North West Secondary School for the Deaf in Leeudoringstad.

Three girls died when a fire raged through the girls' hostel on Monday; 54 others were admitted to hospital for smoke inhalation and injuries they sustained when they jumped from the first floor to escape the flames.

Koli, 18, Katlego Diseko, 16, and Emily Oageng, 22, were trapped in the hostel and burnt to death.

Koli was buried in Klerksdorp and Diseko at her home in Ikopeleg near Mahikeng on Saturday. Oageng will be buried at Campden, Kuruman, in the Northern Cape, on Sunday.

Matsemela said a forensic team had been established to probe the cause of the fire and its finding would be publicly released.

Ward councillor Lulu Chao said anyone found guilty of wrongdoing should be fired.

“We still need to know what happened on that day [Monday]. As government, there is something that [was] done wrong and needs to be corrected.”

If safety measures at the school had been working properly, fire detectors would have warned of the blaze and pupils would have been safely evacuated.

“If safety measures were up to scratch our children would have been able to escape the fire,” he said.

Koli was described as a “brilliant, peaceful, and loving person who never complained unless she was deeply hurt”.

School principal Mini Phillips said she was always willing to learn and help others.

Her schoolmates told mourners Koli was a friendly person.

“She was a good person who always read the Bible. I believe she went straight into heaven,” said Given Mohlala through a sign language interpreter.

Kabelo Sikanyiso, a Grade Nine pupil, also from Jouberton, said he had lost a true friend with whom he had socialised. He wept midway through his speech, saying he was hurt to lose a friend such as Koli.

Koli was born deaf on January 26, 1997. She started school at Thibologa School for the Deaf in Qwa-Qwa, where she remained from Grade R to Grade Eight.

She started her secondary education at the North West Secondary School for the Deaf in Leeudoringstad in 2014.

She is survived by her mother Dikeledi Koli, father Mzwandile Edney Macala, and brother John “Ntate” Koli.

ANA

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