Judge finds in favour of Makangwane (Tree School) SGB

Polokwane – 26 June 2018. Today SECTION27 secured a huge victory for Makangwane Secondary School in the rural village of Non-Parella, Limpopo. In an urgent application brought by SECTION27 on behalf of the Makangwane SGB, Judge GC Muller ruled that the Department of Basic Education is to ensure that learners must no longer be taught under a tree and must be provided with proper and adequate mobile classrooms by 17 July 2018.

SECTION27 brought the  application to ensure that the learners of Makangwane School are taught in safe and adequate school facilities, by the time the third school term begins on 17 July 2018. To date, lessons at the school were irregular or did not occur at all because Department officials refused to allow teaching to take place outdoors. Makangwane, is a public high school with ailing infrastructure situated in a remote village in the

Capricorn District of Limpopo. It serves a poor, rural community and is a “no-fee school”. The poor state of infrastructure at the school came to a head on 22 January 2018 when the corrugated iron roof of one of the classrooms blew off during school break time nearly injuring learners.  Following this incident, the SGB and community members decided to move the learners out of the classrooms to learn under surrounding trees due to concerns for their safety.

The court has granted the following order:

• An interim interdict requiring the Department puts in place short-term measures to allow proper and effective teaching and learning to resume by the start of the third school term on 17 July 2018. These measures must include the delivery of at least 5 mobile classrooms; adequate school furniture to allow all learners to have their own space to read and write and a catch-up plan to compensate for the gaps in the curriculum as a result of the disruptions to teaching and learning  in the first half of 2018.
• A further interdict directing the Department to develop and begin implementing a detailed and costed implementation plan setting out a permanent solution to the problem of inadequate and dangerous infrastructure at Makangwane School.
• An order directing the Department to report to the Court at regular intervals, on the steps taken to comply with these orders.

SECTION27 welcomes this ruling and is indebted to Judge Muller for a judgment that is in the best interests of the children of Limpopo province.

For further details contact
Zukiswa Pikoli
pikoli@section27.org.za
0711953177