The Limpopo education department has finally moved to improve conditions at a Polokwane school for the blind and deaf, where pupils have for years been living in squalor.
The Sunday Times reported last week how 259 pupils at Setotolwane Elsen [education for learners with special education needs] Secondary in Mankweng are living in a derelict temporary school with almost no water, collapsing mobile classrooms with holes in the floors and ceilings, exposed electrical wires, broken toilets and missing taps.
This is after they were relocated from their previous school in 2016 because it was declared unsafe for habitation. They were provided with mobile classrooms set up on the premises of Hwiti High School on a “temporary” basis. The two schools are separated by a fence.
A month-long investigation by the Sunday Times, in collaboration with the Diary Series of Deaf People, revealed how pupils previously had to fetch water for drinking, bathing and flushing with buckets filled via a pipe at a nearby cemetery.
We struggled for too long. [Now] the department has started taking Setotolwane seriously. Today I am very happy
— SGB chair Ramaesala Hlaka
Five days after the team’s visit to the education department on November 20, spokesperson Mosebjane Kgaffe said a contractor had been appointed and had started work on November 25. “The contract amount is R450,000. Completion is scheduled for the end of January.”
On Friday, school governing body chair Ramaesala Hlaka said the contractor was drilling a borehole and renovating the bathrooms and laundry rooms. “They fitted new taps, basins and toilet seats in the girls' and boys' toilets, and tiles in the hostels. But there's still a lot to be done.”
Classroom ceilings had been fixed and new handles put on doors. Though renovations are far from complete, Hlaka said there was now running water. “We struggled for too long. I am happy that I can see something changing. I'm now at the school, and there's water in the taps. You have helped us, since you came, you followed the right channels. Even before you published the story, the department started pulling up their socks and taking Setotolwane seriously. Today I am very happy.”
The governing body said it still wanted to relocate the school to a new and safe building for the pupils and teachers because the makeshift classrooms were unsustainable. “A new site in town has been identified and the project has been handed over to the provincial department of public works. Work has started on planning the building of a new school in Polokwane,” said Kgaffe.
Meanwhile, the chair of parliament's portfolio committee on basic education, Joy Maimela, said they condemned the hazardous living and learning conditions of pupils at Setotolwane labelling it “an insult” to all special-needs pupils. “Special schools cannot be allowed to function in that manner. It's very concerning that [pupils] with special educational needs are expected to live and learn in these conditions.”
Maimela said the committee planned to ask the Limpopo education department to elaborate on the circumstances and conditions.
The governing body said the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) visited the school on Monday. SAHRC’s Limpopo manager, Victor Mavhidula, confirmed the visit and said they would return when schools reopen. He said a decision would be made then on whether to open an official enquiry.
• Ntokozo Abraham, an economic journalist and Vicky Abraham, an investigative journalist, are founders of the Diary Series of Deaf People, an independent digital publication, focusing on the plight of the deaf and people with different disabilities. The Setotolwane Elsen Secondary School reporting project is supported by the Henry Nxumalo Foundation.
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