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Education department urges Vuwani not to be ‘intimidated’ by latest school arson attack

The charred remains of four classrooms that were torched overnight at Mugoidwa Secondary School greeted pupils returning to school at Vuwani in Limpopo on Wednesday.

The Department of Basic Education encouraged pupils to return to class after three months of violent protests by the community‚ objecting to a decision by the Municipal Demarcation Board to incorporate the area into a new municipality.

An estimated 24 schools have been torched‚ significantly disrupting the academic year.

eNCA reported on Wednesday that the department had called on parents and pupils not to be intimidated by the latest act of arson.

Vuwani residents play soccer and party while the rest of Limpopo votes

“We will take this opportunity to encourage all learners in the affected areas not to be intimidated by this‚” said department spokesman Elijah Mhlanga. “Go back to school and make sure that we isolate these individuals who have done this.”

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga described the act of destroying a school as “one of the most heinous crimes imaginable”.

“Not only are these criminals damaging state property worth millions of rands that the taxpayer will have to fund‚ but they are holding the lives of these learners to ransom and putting the future of our children in jeopardy‚” she said.

Yusuf Abramjee ?tweeted photographs of a school burning on Tuesday night‚ and said: “It breaks ones heart to see how criminals are destroying the future of our children. #Vuwani This madness must stop!”

 

 

<p =""> </p><p ="">Aspiring maths and science teacher Nosipho Mnguni ?was distraught by news of the latest arson attack on a school.</p><p ="">“People who did this deserve 15 years in jail‚ minimum. This is worse that a murder. This is killing a child’s future #Vuwani”</p><p =""> </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en" =""><p dir="ltr" lang="en">People who did this deserve 15 years in jail, minimum. This is worse that a murder. This is killing a child's future <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Vuwani?src=hash">#Vuwani</a></p>— Nosipho Mnguni (@nosiemnguni) <a href="https://twitter.com/nosiemnguni/status/763242088771231744">August 10, 2016</a></blockquote><script charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" ="" /><p =""> </p><p =""> </p><p =""> </p><p ="">- TMG Digital</p>

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