Even with the national lockdown in full force criminals are still continuing their tirade on schools in the province. This time the administration block of Amogelang Secondary School in Soshanguve was left in soot, water and ash after it reportedly caught fire in the early hours of the morning. According to the Department of Basic Education, it is alleged by members of the community in the schools neighbourhood,that a loud bang like an explosion was heard before the building was seen burning.
Departmental spokesperson, Steve Mabona, said firefighters attended the scene and managed to extinguish the fire, however nothing could be salvaged. Mabona said the fire destroyed files, photocopy machines, computers, printers and other items in the block. And even though there is a security guard at the school employed by the department for night duty, Mabona said he was not there when the incident took place.
He said, fortunately, the schools nutrition and learner’s scripts were stored elsewhere in the school and not lost in the fire. The value of the loss is still to be determined. For now the fire department has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the fire. It looks like this was a break-in because some of the locks and doors were broken.
This morning, Tshwane firefighters extinguished an administration block of Amogelang Secondary School in Soshanguve. A security guard reported the incident after seeing the building engulfed by fire. pic.twitter.com/aZqVrZRmVj
— City of Tshwane (@CityTshwane) April 6, 2020
“We will never get tired of appealing to anyone who might have information on this unfortunate act to share information with the police. It is disappointing that yet another school has been destroyed by fire,” said Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi. Amogelang Secondary is the third school in the province which has been torched since the beginning of this year.
The first was Tokelo High School in Evaton where four classrooms, learning materials and stock worth about R4m were reduced to ashes. Initial investigations pointed to arson being behind the incident. Khutlo-Tharo Secondary in the Vaal was the second set alight in January as schools were due to reopen.
In other news – Former Jam Alley presenter Vinolia Mashego has died
Former Jam Alley presenter and actress Vinolia Mashego, popularly known as V-Mash, has died, her younger sister confirmed on Monday afternoon. According to her sister, Prelley Seale who was still shaken, they received the news of Mashego’s death this morning. Read more
Source: IOL
