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COMMUNITY members of Gugwini village outside Umzimkhulu have since Monday, closed Mzokhanyo Junior Secondary School as they demand that the government build new classrooms.
They said the old classrooms are not safe for their children as they have broken windows.
Since Monday, people have locked the gates of the school and the teachers and pupils were told not to enter.
When Fever visited the school on Tuesday, teachers were waiting patiently outside the school premises as community members were picketing inside.
The police were also waiting outside the gate monitoring the situation.
Mobile toilets and a Grade 3 classroom were burnt down by the angry community members who threatened to burn down the entire school if the government fails to respond.
The school has 11 classrooms from Grade 1 to Grade 9. The community members said that they built the school in 1979 for their children to get an education and now they want the government to build better classrooms.
“Community members donated money from their pockets when they built 11 classrooms and in January they donated money to paint the school to look good.
“The Department of Education has done nothing to assist the school,” said Laurence Dlomo, a member of the school governing body.
He said that before the school was built, community members showed a love for education as they opened their houses for teachers to use as classrooms.
At the time of going to press, the Department of Education had not responded to questions sent by Fever.
