Mayhem at schools built with asbestos material

About 130 Grade 5 pupils were cramped in one classroom at a primary school in Soweto last week after a health inspector locked up some classrooms built using asbestos.

A further 115 Grade 6 pupils shared a container classroom with no room for movement, while Grade 1 pupils were being taught  in an outside tent mostly used for special events at the Lukholweni primary school in Orlando East.

The staff room was also locked and when Sowetan visited the school last week, the temperature had dropped to 20°C and Grade 6 teachers were seen sitting outside, while their colleagues  delivered lessons in crowded and stuffy classrooms without any ventilation.

Lukholweni is among 29 schools across Gauteng identified by the department of education in 2022 as unsafe schools because of asbestos used in their roofing. The process to  replace the asbestos has been slow and marred by land ownership delays, among other things. Of the 29 schools, only four have had their roofs replaced, three are still under construction, leaving 22 with asbestos roofs – exposing learners and staff to  the possibility of lung contamination.  

The school, which has  about 900 pupils, has since 2017 been pleading with the department for the provision of proper infrastructure, according to the education portfolio committee’s Focused Intervention Study report tabled before the legislature in March last year. Current education MEC Matome Chiloane was the chairperson of the committee. 

The report,  titled “An assessment of asbestos schools in the Province”, noted that Lukholweni “has been writing numerous letters to the department seeking assistance with infrastructure challenges  five years ago”  but had received no response. 

The lack of response culminated  in the health inspector from the labour department locking up eight 18 classrooms last month, citing health risks from asbestos.

Speaking to Sowetan, the chair of the ad-hoc committee and also a member of  the school governing body (SGB) at Lukholweni,  Fezile Kona, said not having  enough classrooms had affected learning at the school, with more than one class occupying  the same classroom.

“When the other teacher is teaching, others just sit in the same class to monitor their own pupils.” 

Last year Chiloane’s committee visited five schools, including Lukholweni and “noted concerns raised by the schools such as infrastructure challenges that do not meet the requirements or norms and standards of an ordinary school”.

The committee also found that the land  on which the school was built does not belong to the department,  which had hindered planned projects.

Kona said the department had not adequately addressed their needs.

“The parents have for a long time been asking the department to supply us with mobile classrooms as a temporary measure to alleviate the mayhem of overcrowding at the school and to protect the children from learning in the open air.”

He said when the classrooms were locked, they were told to move some of their pupils to the adjacent Ditau Primary School, but this was rejected because of the language differences between the two schools.

He said in 2019, inspectors from the labour department gave the department notice, ordering it to examine the conditions  and assess the risks of exposure to asbestos, among other things.

“We have been complaining from the 2019 incident, we have been doing follow-ups and nothing has happened.”

Sowetan also visited Pretoria primary school, which was also built  using asbestos material. This school was also on the list of 29 unsafe schools. No progress has been made there either.

SGB chairperson Kagiso Khalo said: “I think the system is slow because they have been promising and promising but nothing is happening.  We are still under asbestos and the frustration is during winter it is very cold and during summer it is hot.”

She said classrooms at the Pretoria primary school are “rotten, the toilets are also very few and get blocked. In a month we have to call the plumber twice. The department relaxes because we as parents are also quiet. We don’t complain that much.”

Khan’s own child was diagnosed with pneumonia, which she suspects was caused by the asbestos.

Steve Mabona, spokesperson for the department, said land ownership remained a critical component of school infrastructure. “And as such there are restrictions and limitations in terms of government investing in immovable assets on property that does not belong to the state.” 

He said the remaining 22 schools were at various design stages and would be completed by the end of March 2026.

“It is important to note that the nature of infrastructure projects is unfortunately such that unforeseen delays do sometimes occur, which would be handled on a case-by-case basis. Ordinarily, the process of rebuilding and replacing schools requires the land to be properly zoned, to have access to basic services and to be in the custodianship of the Gauteng department of infrastructure development.

“It is not feasible and to consider investing in properties that are not owned by government. It is therefore prudent that government has to firstly acquire land in order to budget, plan, and implement projects. We are working tirelessly to finalise all outstanding projects accordingly,” said Mabona.

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