“I cannot lie to nation”.
“I am not a person who have characteristics of lying and that means I cannot lie about the school safety policies of the school to the nation”, said the North West Education and Sport Development MEC, Maphefo Matsemela at a funeral of Bulelwa Koli(18) in Jouberton, Klerksdorp on Saturday, 29 August 2015. Koli was one of the victims who died at the North West School for the Deaf after the accident of fire claimed the lives of the 3 learners and 53 learners admitted for smoke inhalation and trauma but discharged later on the same day.
“In our department we treat safety and security as our first priority at all times because after the accident the first thing I did after arriving at the school was to look for the school safety policies. The school has all the policies and are implemented on daily basis. Our School, Area Office, District, Head of Department and myself, are available to answer questions relating to the safety of the school to any authority should we be asked to do so”, said MEC Matsemela.
Amongst the people who attended the funeral were, the North West Education and Sport Development MEC, Maphefo Matsemela and the departmental officials, Member of Municipal Council in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality, Nombuyiselo Adoons, Ward Councillor Lulu Chao, North West School for the Deaf principal, Minny Philips, teachers and learners from the school and the large number of the community members’ from Jouberton.
The Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality pledged support to assist the department in rebuilding the North West School for the Deaf, as the school has been their pride since it was the only one in the District.
Philips who is the school principal highlighted that Koli was a hard worker and her work was always up to date. He further said, she was always willing and ready to learn everything taught by the teachers.
The other two learners were also laid to rest on the same weekend in their respective home towns. Katlego Diseko (16) was buried on the same day Saturday, 29 August 2015 at Ikopeleng Village in Mafikeng and Emily Oageng (22) was laid to rest on Sunday, 30 August 2015 at Campden in Kuruman.
MEC Matsemela expressed her condolences to all the bereaved families and indicated that the Provincial government has established a task team to investigate the causes of fire. She further pointed out that the forensic report will be made available to the public once the investigations have been concluded.
Enquiries:
Elias Malindi
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