Johannesburg - Gauteng Department of Education’s commitment to rid the province of asbestos schools by 2016 has not been fulfilled almost seven years after deadline.
Last week, the DA following an oversight visit to one of the schools decried the state of Randfontein Secondary School believed to be one of the 25 asbestos schools that were earmarked for refurbishment to a brick and mortar school.
The Star also witnessed the status of Randfontein Primary School, which from a distance, looks like an ordinary brick and mortar school until one gets closer.
The school is peppered with one layer of brick and mortar while underneath the structure an asbestos structure remains. The school, which was built in 1974, accommodates over 1 500 learners with a recent addition of 250 taken from the department of education’s list of learners who could not be placed anywhere.
Randfontein Secondary is one of 29 schools in Gauteng that was listed for refurbishment by the province’s department of education. The project to rid the province of asbestos schools was supposed to have been completed on November 29, 2016 but almost seven years later the project remains incomplete as more than a handful of schools were refurbished.
The deadline for completion of this project was set in November 2013 when Minister of Education Angie Motshekga signed regulations stipulating the minimum infrastructure norms and standards that all South Africa’s public schools must meet,“ one of the teachers who wanted to remain anonymous told The Star.
The school’s principal also bemoaned the lack of progress and the resultant health hazards posed by this failure by the Gauteng department of education.
“Last time we had a project manager and I still have the file where the department promised that they would rebuild the school at a budget of R250 million.
“Then last year we went to another meeting where they said they will not rebuild the entire school, but would refurbish the asbestos on the same footprint.
“After that five more people came but nothing has happened since then,” she said.
The principal said more than five years ago attempts were made to refurbish the school after certain contractors began covering the metal sheet and asbestos walls with one layer of face brick. She said the bricks were now falling off and becoming a hazard to the learners and staff. She said more than this, the school roof was leaking and on rainy days such as this week, some of the classrooms were waterlogged.
“Our impression when these people came, we thought they would remove asbestos and rebuild the school with bricks. But what they did was to cover the asbestos with one layer of brick. Some of the bricks we have been forced to remove to avoid them falling on pupils’ heads. We are really struggling and some of the teachers have since passed away due to health hazards caused by asbestos,” she said.
The National Institute for Occupational Health has put the figure of asbestos schools in Gauteng to one in eight.
“One in eight Gauteng school buildings contains asbestos, exposing hundreds of thousands of pupils and about 10 000 teachers to serious health risks. If these asbestos structures become dilapidated, fibres are released into the air. If they are inhaled, they can cause deadly respiratory diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma,” the Institute’s report for 2022 said.
Speaking during his oversight visit to the school, Gauteng DA spokesperson on education, Khume Ramulifho, said he was shocked by the state of the school which was seriously in gross violation of the country’s occupational health standards.
“We are shocked to notice that the walls of the asbestos structure of this school are covered with one layer of bricks outside but inside it is still asbestos.
“This is really questionable. We are going to take this matter up with the MEC as we want to know when this school will be replaced with proper structures,” he said.
Attempts to get comment from the Gauteng Department of Education were not successful at the time of going to print.
The Star