All classroom buildings at Waterval High School in the Elim area have been shut down after officials from the Department of Employment and Labour declared several structures unsafe. The closure took place on Wednesday, 21 May, more than a decade after the school first requested new classrooms in 2015.
In 2021, the Department of Employment and Labour reportedly declared some classrooms unsafe. However, learners later returned to the dilapidated buildings after one of the usable blocks was left without electricity following cable theft.
Learners have continued studying in deteriorating conditions, including leaking roofs, cracked walls and damaged floors. Officials from the Department of Employment and Labour and the safety department visited the school on 13 May and returned on 20 May, when several classroom blocks were closed off.
Grade 8, 9 and 10 learners are now attending classes in six mobile classrooms on the school premises, while other learners have been moved to nearby schools, including Hlalelani Primary School.
The closure followed enquiries sent by Limpopo Mirror to the Department of Employment and Labour last month. Provincial Labour Department acting chief inspector Lucia Ramusi previously said no inspection had been conducted at the school during the previous financial year, but inspectors would visit in due course.
The school has faced long-standing infrastructure challenges, with requests for new classrooms first made in 2015 as conditions worsened. The Limpopo Department of Education provided six mobile classrooms in 2023, but the school says these are insufficient.
According to the 2022/23 procurement plan, R15m was allocated for reconstruction, with the Independent Development Trust appointed as implementing agent. No construction has started.