The schools of lost hope

Two Port Elizabeth schools that once serviced thousands of New Brighton youngsters — and which were earmarked for community development —  have been carried off brick by brick by the residents, with only the skeletons remaining.

The destruction of Thamsanqa and Thubelihle high schools has now gutted hopes of developing them as  a hostel and gym for rugby stars from the townships.

With no-one taking responsibility for maintenance or security, the schools have been reduced to empty shells as government officials point fingers at each other.

With missing windows and roofs, ripped out electrical cables and paperwork strewn across the floor, the buildings have been rendered useless.

Community member Eezie Fana said the destruction was carried out two weekends ago.

“They [residents] started carrying away [Tamsamqa, bit by bit,] on the Friday and by the Saturday there was nothing left,” Fana said.

A Herald team that visited the site, saw people breaking down the school buildings, hammering bricks out of the walls and stripping away sections of the water pipes.

“It is not safe here for anyone any more,” Fana said.

“It is very sad and upsetting to see the state the school is in.

“What about the learners and teachers — they were sent to a different school but look at the mess that has been left behind.

“The department of education doesn’t care about these children,” Fana said.

At Thubelihle, a few metres away, a resident stands guard  to protect what is left of the school.

The man, 34, who did not want to give his name, said he wanted to help preserve the school for the community but it was certain members of the same community who were destroying the buildings.

“It is important for us to have places that serve the community at large, but this is heartbreaking to see what has been done here,” the man said.

Theo Pieterse, who has been coaching rugby in the townships for more than four decades, said it was very sad to see what had happened to the schools, which  he along with other stakeholders had hoped to transform into hostels, gyms and training areas for upcoming rugby stars.

Pieterse, who coaches rugby at Ithembelihle Comprehensive School, said it was very sad to see what was happening.

He said no-one had been looking after the schools after they shut their doors as part of the department of education’s rationalisation programme, in which smaller schools are merged with another school

“There is so much [sporting] talent out there in the townships [but] nobody looks after what we have serving the community,” Pieterse said.

Working alongside Ewan Kromhout, former owner of Supplements SA, Pieterse said there had been a business plan drawn up for submission to the municipality to transform Thamsanqa and Thubelihle to foster township sports and, in particular, rugby but nothing had come of it yet.

The proposed  R4.7m project, had it been approved, would have seen Ithembelihle used as the hub of the project.

“The schools have been destroyed.

“There has been so much money wasted. It is frustrating for everyone,” Pieterse said.

The submission noted that Ithembelihle had  been one of the top-performing township school, in terms of township rugby, for the past 10 years.

Punted as a necessary means to solve the structural problems at township schools with regard to sporting activities and development, the proposal highlighted that there were not enough fields or teacher coaches available at township schools to develop age-group teams at anything remotely resembling the level existing at former model C schools.

Solving these problems would enable participation by township pupils in the best schoolboy competition in the world, which in itself basically solved just about all development problems, the proposal said.

Department of public works spokesperson Vuyokazi Mbanjwa confirmed that the schools in question had been handed over to her department and that the department had provided security to the schools before the premises were handed over to the municipality on October 30 last year.

“The department of education operate schools as the user and maintain the school facility until such time that the facility becomes superfluous and is handed over to the department of public works and Infrastructure for an alternative use,” Mbanjwa said.

While she did not elaborate on what the alternative use would be, Mbanjwa claimed the department of public works had handed the school buildings over to the Nelson Mandela municipality on October 30.

Contacted for comment on what the municipality was doing to safeguard the schools in questions, municipal spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki said they did not deal with schools directly and referred The Herald back to the departments of education and public works.

Contacted again for further comment Mbanjwa remained adamant that the schools, or what is left of them, was handed over to the municipality and that they would be in a better position to comment on the situation.

Contacted again, Mniki said: “We have nothing to do with schools. It’s education and public works.”

On Thursday, Mniki was contacted in connection with the proposal to have the schools turned into a gym and hostel. He did not respond to WhatsApps or telephone calls.

Department of education spokesperson Loyiso Pulumani said the schools had been handed over to the department of public works who were the custodians of all government properties and the district had submitted lists of schools vandalised to the department’s infrastructure planning unit for possible repairs depending on budget.

“Schools are vandalised by the same communities that are supposed to support them. Vandalism  is a societal  problem,” Pulumani said.