Klerksdorp - A school was burnt down in the North West, with the provincial authorities calling for law enforcement agencies to get the bottom of the fire.
The incident, which happened at the weekend, is the latest after another school was burnt down in the province a few months ago.
The department of education in the province said on Tuesday the latest incident happened in Jouberton.
Four classrooms, desks and chairs, the ceiling and roof of a school block were destroyed by a fire that broke out at Tsamma Secondary School in Jouberton Township near Klerksdorp.
The department said the fire broke down on Saturday night and the cause of the fire is still unknown. It added that stationery in the storeroom, including teachers' files in the school Head of Department’s office, were also damaged.
The department said the community around the area called the principal and fire department immediately after they saw the fire in the school.
North West Education MEC Mmaphefo Matsemela described the incident as a disaster for the department.
"I am totally lost for words following this horrible incident fire that gutted a block of classrooms. I personally regard it as a serious disaster. The grade 12 learners are currently writing their preliminary examinations. This will affect all the preparations done by the school.
"As a department, we have a huge backlog of schools which we are currently building and renovating. Now we have to go back and build again a school that did not have any problems," said Matsemela.
The MEC indicated that they have decided to reroute four mobile classrooms, which were supposed to be delivered to another school as a temporary intervention. "We have also arranged a nearby church to be utilised for the preliminary examinations by grade 12 learners," she said.
Matsemela pleaded with law enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate the matter so that the cause of the fire can be known. "This has seriously affected teaching and learning at this school," she added.
Matsemela also highlighted that the Infrastructure Unit was on-site to assess the extent of the damages, and a case has been opened with the local SAPS for further investigation and to ascertain the cause of the fire.
In February, Ramotse Primary School in Luka near Rustenburg burnt down, leaving 40 computers destroyed. The school community suspected criminal activities.
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