KwaZulu-Natal MEC for education Kwazi Mshengu has condemned the torching of a primary school.

In a statement on Thursday, the KZN department of education said preliminary results showed that Esiphukwini Primary School in Engonyameni, south of Durban, had been set alight by unknown people in the early hours of Thursday morning.

“This unfortunate and barbaric incident sets us back in that it happens at a time when as a department we have redirected most of our financial resources to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. We ask the community to work with the police to ensure that the culprits are swiftly apprehended," said Mshengu.

The department said it was still assessing the extent of the damage. Since the start of the lockdown, more than 225 schools in the province have either been set on fire or burgled.

The latest crime statistics, released on Friday, revealed that arson was down by 7.3% and malicious damage to property was down by 4.3% nationally.

Police were not immediately available for comment.

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