Durban - REPAIRS were yet to get under way at a high school in KwaMaphumulo when staff arrived to start the week, only to find the administration block torched. Before this, buses for pupil transportation were also torched.
According to a resident, who did not want to be named, the buses were set alight on July 23, August 1and 2 and then on Monday pupils and teachers arrived to find part of iQwabe High School torched.
It was not yet clear what the motive was behind the acts of arson.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said: “It is alleged that the admin block at a school in Nsuze was set alight by unknown suspects. The matter is still under investigation.”
Mbele said they were also investigating cases of malicious damage to property that were opened at KwaMaphumulo police station for investigation regarding the burnt buses.
“It is alleged that between July and August, buses were burnt while parked at the drivers premises. The areas in question were Woza, Odengezini and Dakadaka. The cases are still under investigation.”
Department of Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi confirmed that repairs to iQwabe High School that was set alight on Sunday had not yet taken place and added that two buses were torched prior to the school being set alight.
The school’s principal Mr Nxumalo said he arrived on scene in the early hours of Monday after being alerted to the schools being on fire.
When asked about the buses that were torched - on three different days- and how this had affected pupils he said: “What I know is that they walk to school.”
Ward councillor Thokozani Mathibela said: “Yes, both incidents happened, the torching of buses and the school but the two can’t be linked and compared and nor can I say what happened as the motive for both has not been established. The matter is now in the hands of the law enforcement to find the suspects.”
IFP Education spokesperson Thembeni KaMadlopha Mthethwa said teachers and pupils bore the brunt of such incidents.
“There was no government budget for schools destroyed by people, yes those that are damaged due to natural elements are repaired. The people who burnt the buses don’t love the community or the pupils.”
The DA in KwaZulu-Natal condemned the incidents describing these as criminal acts.
“It is base that these arsonists and possibly even saboteurs are continuing to destroy state infrastructure for whatever nefarious reasons they have. Communities often know who these possible insurgents are and I plead with them to work closely, and even anonymously with SAPS to bring them to book. The actions of these criminals severely affects the already strained pupil transport system in the province, and the infrastructure budget will not cope to ensure repairs anytime soon,” said DA Education spokesperson and MPL Dr Imraan Keeka.
Daily News