Rietkol Primary in Mpumalanga has decided to turn to parents to ask them to build a fence around the school after the provincial government's failure to deliver the fence.
TimesLIVE Premium understands parents were requested to pay up R500 a child towards the erection of a fence.
After queries from TimesLIVE Premium, the provincial department said it would prioritise putting up the fence but also encouraged parents to take “total ownership” of schools.
The school has been open since 2005.
Parents have expressed safety concerns, saying the premises were easily accessible.
DA member of the provincial legislature and spokesperson on education Jane Sithole said the department vowed to erect the fence in the current financial year but failed. She said the promise came after the matter was reported to the South Africa Human Rights Commission and investigations confirmed the school was not fenced.
Sithole said the school remains a security risk.
To mitigate this, the school governing body and school officials reportedly asked parents to contribute R500 each to fence the school themselves.
A parent told TimesLIVE Premium the school proposed the contributions at a parents' meeting in January. It was suggested parents fork out R300 each but the meeting concluded a R500 contribution per parent was needed.
“We were told to pay it once off or in instalments from January to June and pay it into the school’s bank account and use ‘fence’ as a reference. If we use the name of the child as a reference, they said it wouldn’t make sense because there are school trips and we use the child’s name as a reference when we pay for those.”
The school shouldn’t be asking parents in rural areas to help
— Jane Sithole, DA member of the provincial legislature and spokesperson on education
The mother of a grade 2 pupil said she was against the proposal as she is unemployed.
“That R500 can be used to feed my child, get school uniforms and pay for trips. I would like the school to have a fence, which is why we approached the ward councillor to help with this, but expecting R500 from parents is too much.
“I don’t think it is safe for the school not to have a fence. I think I will ask for my child to be transferred to another school,” she said.
Mpumalanga education spokesperson Jasper Zwane said the department has prioritised erecting the fence in the upcoming financial year as security at the school remains important.
The department is mobilising communities to take complete ownership of schools through the Rhandza Xikolo Xa Wena Campaign to ensure schools are safeguarded, not broken into and not vandalised, Zwane said.
“Communities are urged to appreciate schools are centres for their own growth and development. They need to play a pivotal role in collaborating with schools to improve their ambience and to keep them clean and inviting. The department is fully committed to securing the school by erecting a strong fence,” he said
Sithole said the province had returned R395m to the National Treasury as it was not used for infrastructure upgrades, including erecting required fences in the 2022/23 financial year.
“The spending has become so slow that we had to return the money. That is why there are so many problems. We are moving at a snail's pace while there is money. However, the province cites issues of financial challenges. We are spending at a slow pace and since large amounts of money are returned, the following year Treasury will allocate a reduced amount,” she told TimesLIVE.
“The school shouldn’t be asking parents in rural areas to help.”
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