At Bartimea School for the Deaf and Blind at Thaba Nchu, the administration building was set on fire. According to OFM’s twitter feed, they have been alerting parents and the public about what was happening during the event. One tweet even asked parents to come get their children because they were not safe.
According to the Education Department’s Howard Ndaba, the unrest was caused by a fence established between the boys and girls hostels which had been constructed in April this year. The intent behind establishing the fence was to to help prevent sexual activity.
Violence at the school did not start today but rather on Monday where riots were initiated by a group of “learners”. They were successful in removing the fence. Yesterday, they also blocked the entry of the school preventing people from entering.
When the Department had asked the police to escort them onto school property to pick up files of students, that’s when the Administration building was set aflame. Fortunately so far, there have been no reports of injuries or arrests.
Again, parents are asked to please go to the school and pick their children up.
