Africa-Press – South-Africa. As Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi unveiled a new school worth R40 million in Tshwane on Wednesday, he pleaded for it not to become a victim of vandalism.
To kick off the school year in the province, Lesufi and Education MEC Matome Chiloane officially opened Mapenane Secondary School in Ga-Rankuwa.
The new school boasts a state-of-the-art hall, admin block and two laboratories.
Welcoming pupils, Chiloane said the school, as an asset, was officially being handed over to the community who should safeguard it jealously and selfishly.
Lesufi added the school cost R40 million and was an investment from the Gauteng government to the community of Ga-Rankuwa.
While he spoke about innovation and technology, including that pupils would be given tablets, he also addressed the issue of vandalism.
Lesufi, who spent years as the MEC of education in the province, has always been outspoken on school vandalism.
In handing over the school, he echoed Chiloane’s sentiments and said the school needed to be protected.
“This thing of vandalising your own property must come to an end,” Lesufi added.
He spoke about how frequently toilets were destroyed and once they were not functional, it ended the dignity of a child who made use of it at school.
Lesufi said he was pleading with pupils and the community to protect the school and keep it clean.
“We have given you a good school. There is nothing that hurts like after unveiling such a beautiful school you [come back to] find things falling apart.”
He also had a stern warning for vandals and would-be protesters, saying if the school was burnt down, it would not be fixed or replaced.
“Don’t burn my school,” Lesufi said. “You burn this school; we are not going to build this school again.”
He added in Katlehong, the community burnt the school to the ground, and to date, it had not been rebuilt.
Chiloane said measures had been put into place to protect schools, adding visible policing would play a role and plans were in place to station community safety offices at identified schools.
However, he added, it was the community that had to protect the schools first.
“They must be our first line of defence.”
According to Chiloane, the start of the academic year was mostly smooth, except for two schools that were disrupted by protesting parents.
He said the department was working on placing all pupils in schools before the end of the month.
As public schools opened across the province, Lesufi said he had dispatched all MECs to monitor the first day.
He also touched on admission issues and said no child would be without a school.
Coinciding with the issue of admissions and full schools, Lesufi conceded there was a massive backlog in the building of new schools in Gauteng to keep up with the growing population in the province.
He said the Department of Infrastructure had committed to building a new school every month.
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