Ageing asbestos classrooms in South Africa’s richest province threaten the safety of teachers and learners
Sergio Isa Dos Santos, the DA’s Shadow MEC for Education, raised the alarm about ageing asbestos structures in Gauteng schools.
Dos Santos cited Randfontein Secondary School and Toekomsrus Primary School in Toekomsrus as examples of schools which still use asbestos classrooms.
“Attend classes in ageing asbestos structures pose serious health risks, while teachers continue to work in unsafe environments that compromise their safety,” he said.
This, he said, is happening despite the Gauteng Provincial Government’s (GPG) long-standing promise to replace asbestos schools with safe and modern infrastructure.
He said the MEC for Infrastructure Development and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Jacob Mamabolo, sidestep questions about the issue.
He did not provide details on why the Gauteng Provincial Government has still not eradicated asbestos infrastructure.
Clear deadlines were set out in the 2013 Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure.
“Instead, he repeated the government’s hollow commitment to asbestos eradication, with no clear timeline or end in sight,” Dos Santos said.
The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) previously allocated R112 million for asbestos-related infrastructure upgrades at Randfontein Secondary School.
“Yet despite this significant investment, a recent DA oversight inspection found that critical safety hazards remain unresolved,” he said.
“This includes an incomplete administration block, unfinished bathrooms, falling ceiling panels, and staircases missing safety bars.”
“The department’s intervention seems to have involved building brick-and-mortar structures around existing asbestos classrooms.”
Most of these structures have since deteriorated or collapsed, exposing learners and educators to cracked and broken asbestos panels.
Meanwhile, asbestos infrastructure remains in place at Toekomsrus Primary School and requires urgent replacement.
Some of the school’s mobile classrooms are more than 30 years old and need to be removed, while the roof blocks are in dire need of maintenance.
“Although the department assessed the school two years ago, no work has been carried out,” Dos Santos said.
Photos of the ageing asbestos structures at schools
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The da is like the anc, trying to score points with small stuff, ignoring the real urgent matters like the economy, foot and mouth disease, racial legislation, foreign policy, bella bill, expropriation with no compensation, immigrants etc, etc. They are the blue anc. Will never trust them again.