Damaged ceiling where pupils wrote their final exams. Picture by Ntokozo Abraham.
Section 24 (a) of the Bill of Rights provides that everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing, but Deaf and blind pupils from Setotolwane ELSEN Secondary School in Mankweng, Limpopo are far from enjoying this right.
On April 12, 2016, pupils and staff were temporarily moved from their previous school premises in Mashashane to Hwiti High School, an ordinary public school in Mankweng, after the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education in the national parliament said the place was declared "unsafe for human habitation” in 2015.
Following the Committee's oversight visit to the school in 2015, it instructed the Limpopo Department of Education to "urgently" relocate the teachers and pupils because of "lack of infrastructure" and "other problems brought to the Committee’s attention."
Believing they were finally set free from lodging and learning in an unsafe environment, it did not dawn on them that they would relive the horror of their old premises in the current premises.
Although the schools share the
same premises, they are divided by a fence and the learning conditions are
sadly completely different. Hwiti High School pupils who have no form of
disabilities have access to running water. However, Setotolwane ELSEN’s blind
and Deaf pupils lodge in hazardous dormitories and learn in old makeshift
mobile classrooms, with no running water.
For the past eight years they have been waiting for the Limpopo Department of Education to move them to a safer environment and infrastructure.
During Diary Series of Deaf People’s investigative tour at the boarding school on the last week of exams, we discovered that pupils lodge in three old dormitories that have seen better days. Some hostel rooms are doorless. It is understood that seven rooms are doorless. Pupils were writing their exams in mobile classrooms where the ceilings are uncovered with a pink sponge dangling from the roof. The grey floors in some of the classrooms beneath our feet were sinking in and nearly ready to split into two. The door to one of the classrooms was closed because of holes in the floor.
The school has 259 blind and Deaf pupils, 254 are boarders and the remainder are day scholars. Of the 259, 168 are Deaf, 51 completely blind, 40 partially blind, combined with learners with albinism.
Doorless hostel rooms where Deaf and blind pupils sleep. Picture by Ntokozo Abraham.
Robert Maake, a member of the School Governing Body (SGB) said they were supposed to occupy the current premises only for allegedly three years and move to a new premises.
At the time of the interview, Maake:
"We have been occupying the
premises since 2016 and we were supposed to get out in 2019 or 2020, and nothing
is happening. We are still here and there is no maintenance at the school
whatsoever.”
A letter seen by this publication, dated April 11, 2016, by a Polokwane district director of the Limpopo Department of Education reads, “the temporary deployment is prompted by the budget speech of March 2011 by the then Honourable MEC for Education Mr. Namane Dickson Masemola, that process of temporarily relocating Setotolwane Special School staff to Hwiti High School will enable the proper renovation process at Setotolwane ELSEN. Based on the above, you are therefore informed that you will be temporarily relocated to Hwiti High School w.e.f 12/04/2016.”
But the SGB alleged that the renovation plan was later changed to building a new school for Setotolwane ELSEN.
As Diary Series of Deaf People perused the 2016/2017 to 2024/2025 budget speeches of the provincial MECs of the Department of Education and Department of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure, unfortunately Setotolwane ELSEN was not among schools identified for renovation or new building infrastructure.
A budget speech delivered on April 12, 2016, by former MEC of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure, Azwinndini Ndou stated that the provincial “department will upgrade six schools and renovate one.”
According to the 2024/2025 financial year budget speech of the Limpopo Department of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure by MEC Nkakareng Rakgoale, 19 schools "are planned to commence with construction" for 2024/2025 financial year. On the other hand, four schools "are at the final design stage."
Although the schools were mentioned in the budget speeches, Setotolwane ELSEN was not.
Pupils’ broken lockers. Picture by Ntokozo Abraham.
The secretary of the SGB, Mosoane Sekwane said on May 2, 2024, the SGB members visited the Department of Education concerning the “renovation of hostels, request of new mobile classes, water (Borehole), collapse of infrastructure, alternative venue for the school and update of building of new school.”
The SGB minutes showed that although they were told the school is not listed for education infrastructure, an official from the department assured them the matter will be addressed.
Maake said mobile classrooms have allegedly exceeded the lifespan and "they have holes on the floors, and we have learners who do not see [blind learners] and it is quite a danger to them. The hostels leak water all over."
An investigation report on chicken pox at the school, dated May 5, 2024, compiled by Mothiba M.J, an Environmental Health practitioner from Capricorn District Municipality stated that “most female hostel doors had no handles; overcrowding in some of the rooms; male laundry rooms had no taps.”
The investigation was prompted by the death of a 14-year-old Deaf girl, Tebogo Williams who was the first victim of chicken pox at the school. Six Deaf girls were also affected.
Although the SGB suspects Williams died from chicken pox, Mothiba’s report does
not confirm that.
The report added that, “bathrooms were found in unhygienic conditions, there was wastewater flowing all over the bathroom floors; the facilities were in poor state and may be hazardous to learners (i.e. missing tiles from showers, damaged shower floors, poor drainage system, toilets not working). There was a strong offensive odour from some of the toilets.”
A source close to the situation said, around 2022 Setotolwane ELSEN was supposed to be a mega school with Rethuseng Special School, a primary school for children with different disabilities.
Apparently, the identified land for building in town (Polokwane) was too small to accommodate both schools. But the project was allegedly halted, and “the Department of Education said they will continue with Rethuseng only.” The source alleged that Setotolwane ELSEN was therefore taken out of the combined building plan with Rethuseng Special School.
The source said:
"It is shameful to see what they [Department of Education] are doing to disabled children. It is so disgraceful. It is actually heartbreaking when you go there [both schools] because what they are doing is inhumane. This is a violation of human rights.”
Deaf pupils pouring water in their buckets. Picture by Ntokozo Abraham.
On the other hand, Maake said:
"They [Department of Education] are playing us like a yo-yo, they come and tell us this today and when we call them two days later, they refer us to things they told us long before. We were supposed to leave in 2020, but we are still here [Hwiti High School premises] and there is no maintenance at school whatsoever."
The SGB said, "The lifespan of a mobile class is five years. Sometimes when the teachers are teaching, the ceiling would just fall down. There are also holes [in the floors] and we have blind learners, so we have to push some things there [inside the holes] so that they do not fall into those holes."
The deputy secretary of the SGB, Mothiba Lesetja said, “There are crumbling walls and ceilings and exposed electric wires, which put, particularly our blind children at risk, because they are exposed to these electrical wiring."
The SGB said the temperature in the mobile classrooms allegedly affects the flow of teaching as there are no air-conditioners. The classrooms are allegedly overheated in summer. In winter teachers cannot switch on heaters, and this affects blind pupils as their fingers would allegedly be too cold to read braille papers, a source said.
When it is too hot, the teachers would allegedly take the pupils outside the classrooms to teach under the trees or stop the lessons and give them different tasks to do.
The SGB said they tried to buy fans as a solution, but:
"...unfortunately they blow away the papers in the classroom. It causes chaos and it makes noise. So, it is not conducive to be used. For blind learners in particular, if it is extremely cold, remember they are using their fingers to read. So, if they are freezing, they cannot read. So, they need to get some warmth to feel the braille paper."
Chairperson of the South African National Association for Special Education (SANASE), Matome Bopape said, “The Department of Education in Limpopo has a duty to fulfill its obligation to build state of the art school for these learners. Education is not a privilege to Setotolwane learners but a right.
“SANASE Limpopo is equally disturbed to learn that there is water shortage in the school for learners with special needs. It is an infringement and violation of human rights and dignity. It is regrettable to note that the infrastructure is also not proper for the vulnerable learners regarded as special who are not treated with the dignity they deserve.”
Following Diary Series of Deaf People’s visit to the Department of Education on November 20, spokesperson Mosebjane Kgaffe said, "A contractor has been appointed and started work on Monday [November 25] to do maintenance work at the current school location."
SGB said their concerns go beyond these repairs:
"We do not just want them to fix the toilets or drill a borehole; we want to relocate to a new safe building for the kids and teachers. The makeshift classrooms are unsustainable."
Kgaffe said, "A new site in town has been identified and the project has been handed over to the provincial Department of Public Works and work has started: to plan for the building of a new school in Polokwane town."
However, Kgaffe could not answer why the project was not mentioned in the 2024/2025 budget and previously.
The Setotolwane ELSEN Secondary School reporting project is supported by the Henry Nxumalo Foundation.
