For three weeks, the gates at Dayimani High School and Hlalakahle Primary School have remained locked, not by officials, but by a coalition of concerned parents who say they can no longer risk their children’s safety in dilapidated and dangerous classrooms.
The protest, which has completely halted education for hundreds of learners in the Cortenburg area near Manyeleti, is a desperate response to years of alleged government neglect and broken promises from the Mpumalanga Education Department.
The situation at Dayimani High is particularly poignant. The school is a critical center for mathematics, science, and technology in the district, with the capacity to educate over 600 learners. Instead of the sounds of learning, however, the campus is now deserted.
“The condition of the infrastructure has caused a concern,” explained one parent. “Parents are worrying about the toilets at the school and infrastructure as a whole. This school is not in good condition.”
The complaints are extensive: classrooms are pockmarked with potholes and deep cracks in the floors and walls. During the rainy season, leaking roofs make teaching and learning impossible. “Our children are not coming to school because all the roofs are leaking,” the parent said.
The crisis is equally severe at the nearby Hlalakahle Primary School. For parents there, the fear is tragically historical. A community representative revealed a devastating past incident, stating, “By 2008 we had an incident whereby we lost two children here at the toilet.”
This past tragedy has cemented their resolve. “Right now we are not safe because our children and the teachers are also afraid of this infrastructure,” the representative added, pointing to the aged and crumbling buildings that have been in use since the school opened in 1992.
The core of the parents’ anger is directed at the provincial education department, whom they accuse of dishonesty and neglect. They claim that while the department has built new, modern schools focusing on maths and science in the area, their repeated pleas for help since 2017 have been met with empty promises.
“They almost promise us they are coming to build it, to build it, until today,” a frustrated parent said. “That’s why you see us today mobilizing to government that they must build our school.”
With their children’s education and lives on the line, parents have vowed to continue their protest indefinitely until the department meets their demand for safe, new school buildings. While the department has acknowledged the standoff and promised to “look into the infrastructure challenges,” for the parents of Cortenburg, promises are no longer enough. They are demanding action