The fed-up community of Tshikwarani in the Kutama area vented their anger by shutting down the Khogonyane Primary School two weeks ago. The parents are also upset with the Limpopo Department of Education's failure to provide mobile classes.

A tug of war is currently underway between the department and the school management, parents and guardians. The school governing body (SGB) locked the educators and learners out of the buildings, arguing that the classrooms are on the verge of collapsing.

The school has 407 learners and 12 educators, starting from Grade R up to 4. The classes were built by the community in the early seventies. Some 40 years later, the roofs are leaking, the floors have cracked up and are full of holes and termites have destroyed the roof structure.

The deputy-chairperson of the SGB, Ms Suzan Mashosho, said the conditions at the school made it very difficult for education to proceed smoothly. “The walls and roof may fall in at any time. We risk our lives and those of our children every day," she said.

Mashosho said they always found snakes and scorpions seeking refuge in the dilapidated classes. “We have applied many times to the department for classes, but our pleas have not yielded any fruits," she said.

Mashosho said that mobile classrooms could alleviate the situation as the lack of classrooms was a matter that required urgent attention. “Either that or else government must build classes for our children. Look at other schools in the province and you'll see that they have the luxury of air-conditioners."

"We were told in 2009, when we met with officials of the department in Polokwane, that they would build classes, but they never fulfilled the promises. Something must be done before we lose our lives in this risky situation. We want the MEC for Education, Dickson Masemola, to come down and see the conditions where our learners are being taught.”

The spokesperson for the Department of Education, Mr Pat Kgomo, said that there was a backlog in the department. He said that many schools around the province were running short of classes. He said that they were going to build ten new classrooms and appealed to the community not to disturb the education process and to allow the children and educators to go back to class.