Johannesburg - A raging fire gutted a school building in Potchefstroom in the North West, Education MEC Wendy Matsemela said on Tuesday.
“I got I call [telephone call] at 9pm that the boys hostel at Volkskool was on fire. There were three boys in the hostel and the other 40 were at the study room. The three were evacuated to a safe place and there were no casualties. The cause of the fire is not known,” she said.
She said the boys who were in the study room were evacuated to a safe place. The fire completely destroyed the roof and first floor of the hostel.
This was the second fire at a school in North West in a period of a week. On August 24, three girls died when a fire broke at the North West Secondary School for the Deaf in Leeudoringstad, with 54 others admitted to hospital for smoke inhalation and minor injuries they sustained when they jumped from the first floor of the hostel in a bid to escape the fire.
Matsemela said the department was still waiting for a forensic report on what could have caused the fire at Leeudoringstad.
One Volks High pupil, who is a professional cyclist, lost his R100 000 bicycle in the fire. The fire destroyed 29 bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The North West Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Education and Sports Development, Arts, Culture and Traditional on Monday said it has received a request from the department of education and sports development for the postponement of the meeting that was to be held on Tuesday to discuss the fire at the school for the deaf, due to the fact that the department was not ready to submit the report.
“The committee had requested a comprehensive report from the department of education and sports development after an incident that occurred at North West School for the Deaf where a fire gutted the school hostel leaving three learners dead and 54 others being hospitalised after suffering minor injuries
“It also requested the department to present a comprehensive report on the Christiana School for the Blind incident where a fire broke down at the school on the 29 November 2010, leaving four learners dead,” said committee chairperson Boitumelo Moiloa in a statement.
Moiloa said the request from the education department was granted and a date for the next meeting would be communicated before the end of the week.
ANA