Honourable House Chairperson,
The ACDP is appalled to hear of the negligent attitude toward the most vulnerable children in our nation, the blind and deaf, at the Setotolwane Secondary School, in Polokwane, Limpopo.
Helen Keller, who was born deaf and blind said, “the only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” The Department falls into this category. No vision, empathy and care for the children of Setotolwane Secondary School.
With taps run dry, the school has to rely on water takers, and when the water tankers do not pitch, they have to use water from the graveyard to drink and bath. It is beyond imagination, that the Department could not complete and connect the borehole, long identified as a matter of urgency; Toilets have become clogged resulting in blind learners having their hands soiled with faeces, while relieving themselves.
In 2016, the Department temporarily relocated the school, with the mandate to ensure the renovation of the school or the building of a new one. Almost ten years later this has not been done.
A Principal and Acting Principal at the school are both being paid and this threatens the stability of the school.
Classes are suspended, there are no isolation rooms for sick learners and Grade 8 learners will only commence classes, when new mobile classrooms become available, as their present mobile classrooms are dilapidated with holes in the flooring.
The ACDP does not support the report and says to the Department of Basic Education, “You have eyes and ears, use them to benefit and support those who don’t.”
I thank you.
