The ANC, in its manifesto in 2009, identified education as one of the five key priorities, but deep in rural Limpopo, a municipality is sending a contradictory message ...

This was said by shocked onlookers on Tuesday morning. More than 150 Grade 12 pupils, who are busy writing their mid-year examinations,  were left stranded when they found that the classes they were to write in were being demolished. The results of these examinations are extremely important because they form part of their applications to tertiary institutions

The pupils at Hermain High School in Thohoyandou were supposed to write science when they arrived, only to find that workers from Thulamela Municipality had demolished the venue. Pupils who had arrived early could be seen milling around the schoolyard in a state of confusion.

Some were gathered in groups, trying to figure out what could have happened.

The director of the school, Ms Virginia Netswera, was updating the pupils from time to time and also arranging for the exams to go ahead. The exams were written in venues without a roof; fortunately for them it did not rain.

Netswera said she was enjoying her long weekend at home when she received a call that her school was being demolished. "I had to leave what I was doing and rushed to the school, where I found that the lock at the main gate had been broken. On entry, I was shocked to see workers on the roof of the classes," she said.

Netswera mentioned that she did not know who they were as there were no notices that the buildings would be demolished. On enquiry, she was told by the workers that they were from Thulamela Municipality and that they were told to work over the weekend as they would be paid overtime.

"I tried to reason with them, telling them that pupils were writing important exams and that the municipality had not notified me. They did not listen, saying they would lose their jobs if they stopped," said Netswera.

She said she was very surprised because, as far as she knew, she was in negotiations with the municipality about vacating the buildings. "This is a big shock to us and it will adversely affect our pupils. Why did they have to wait for the poor kids to start writing? They are not concerned about the future of the children,” a shocked Netswera said.

She said they were going to have a stakeholders meeting which would decide on what steps to take.

Edzani Nemadzivhanani (20), a Grade 12 pupil  from Makwarela, arrived early to prepare for her science exam, only to find that the venue had no more doors and roof. "I am so disappointed. I prepared intensively for this paper. What happened here has demotivated me and made me lose focus. I do not care about their politics. They should have been sensitive to us and thought about our future.”

Community leader Mr Malume, the secretary of Sanco Vhembe, said he was very disappointed about the turn of the events. "These pupils are writing and they are only left with a few papers to finish. The democratic government, which purports to take the youth from the streets, is doing just the opposite and is driving them back to the streets. This is something unexpected in the new dispensation. It is a shame and a disgrace to our hard-earned democracy," he said.

Mr Simon Madi of Community Services at Thulamela Municipality said they had given notice to the school to vacate the area in 2010. "According to our records, there is no one occupying the site as they have not been paying rent for the past two years. This area is earmarked for the development of a mall that will create many jobs for our people,” he added.

Madi also mentioned that they were not maintaining the buildings “as we did not know that there are people using them. These buildings are no longer safe for people," he said.