Another Vhembe school set alight

While the recent burning of about 30 schools in the Vuwani area during protests by residents against their incorporation into a new municipality is still fresh in people's memory, yet another school was set alight in the new municipality.

Homula Secondary School in Mukhomi village in Malamulele was found burnt on Sunday morning at about 02:30. In the incident, three classrooms and a staff room were destroyed. It is suspected the unknown arsonists had targeted the records that were in the building as the other classes were not burnt.

This is not the first time the school has been targeted by arsonists. Last year in June, the school suffered major damage when it was set alight. The school has also been a target of thieves and has already been hit four times before by break-ins.

The recent burning has received wide condemnation from different spheres of the community. Among those who visited the school and raised their voices against it is the newly elected mayor of the new municipality in Vhembe, Cllr Joyce Bila. “We heard about what happened here and we felt we should come and see for ourselves. We are very worried as the learners are busy with their exams and this could impact negatively on their results. We are here to give them support and we are very hopeful the police will make a thorough investigation and the culprits will be arrested,” she said.

Veteran politician Dr Tshenuwani Farisani, chairman of Safer South Africa in Limpopo and also the leader of the moral regeneration movement in Vhembe, described the situation as tragic. "Never in the history of this area have we seen so many schools burnt in a short while. During our time we used to have classes under trees and sit on stones, but now the democratic government is doing its best to make teaching and learning easier by providing the best infrastructure, but there are people busy destroying our gains.”

Thabo Maluleke, a Grade 12 learner at the school, said the fire was a great disturbance to their studies.

News - Date: 23 September 2016

Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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