Damage estimated at about R1.8 million was caused by the fire that destroyed the staff room and part of the administration block of Zwithuzwavhudi Secondary School in Gondeni village outside Thohoyandou last Wednesday.

The principal of the school, Mr Nndivhaleni Siaga, said he was informed by one of the community members at about 05:30 on Wednesday that the staff room was on fire. “We are worried that text books, teachers’ and learners’ files, examination material and science chemical apparatus were all destroyed by the fire. We praise the communities around Gondeni who came in large numbers to help us to remove some items from the administration block,” said Siaga.

According to him, they never suspected that anything bad could happen at the school. Although it has not yet been established what might have caused the fire, Siaga said that they had discovered a box of matches in the gutted staffroom “and we suspect foul play.”

The president of the learners representative council (LRC), Khodani Mukhadi, a Grade 12 pupil, said that she was very worried, because some of the text books they needed to prepare for the final exams had also been destroyed in the fire. “We are totally disturbed about the situation, because pupils and teachers are left without learning material.” 

The police spokesperson in the Thohoyandou Cluster, Maj Mashudu Malelo, said they had opened an arson case and the police were still investigating the matter. At the time of our going to press, no arrest had been made yet and the police have urged community members to supply them with information that could lead to the arrest of the culprits.