Pretoria - There was much excitement among learners at Mapenane Secondary School in Ga-Rankuwa Zone 16 when Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi officially opened the newly-built facility at a cost of R40 million.
The ceremony coincided with the school reopening to mark the start of the 2023 academic year.
The school, which was formerly a prison facility under the defunct Bophuthtswana bantustan, comprises classrooms fitted with smart boards, an administration block, two laboratories, a school nutrition place and a state-of-the-art hall.
Lesufi’s announcement that learners would soon receive tablets and free WiFi to assist them with their studies was received with a round of applause from the audience packed inside the hall.
“Townships schools should be the best because apartheid built the best schools for their children and the democratic government must build the best schools for its constituencies. And we are not apologetic for that,” he said.
He expressed a wish to see the school being converted into one of the specialised schools in the province.
“We want these children to know how to fly an aeroplane. We want these children to know how to build roads, We want these children to know how to build a new electric car. We want these children to know how soon they could go to the moon and come back within a day,” he said.
He pleaded with learners and the community to take care of the facility and not vandalise it during service delivery protests.
“You burn this school you will see to its finish. We are not going to build this school again. And this is not a threat; we have done it in Katlehong. The community of Katlehong was very angry and they burnt the school. That school still stands empty now,” he said.
Lesufi expressed regrets that the school was without sporting amenities, adding that he had asked that a piece of land should be identified for the erection of those facilities.
The provincial government MECs were deployed throughout the province to monitor the reopening of schools and play an oversight on their readiness.
Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane said: “Through this deployment the Gauteng government further sent an unequivocal message that we will continue to make education an apex priority.”
He used the opportunity to announce that his department would this year open at least three new schools and two of them will be in Tshwane.
“We also plan on launching two more schools of specialisation before the end of March 2023,” he said.
Regarding the children who were still not placed, Chiloane said: “We are working around the clock to resolve this matter.”
He said the department had set itself a deadline of January 30 to finalise the placement.
Skeem Saam actor Thabang Lefoa encouraged learners to stay focused on their education and not be tempted to do crime.
Despite failing matric, Lefoa went back to rewrite his exams and eventually passed.
He had been involved in a life of crime, but he subsequently quit to focus on his acting career.
He told learners that “whatever that you decide to do now it is going to determine your future.”
Pretoria News