Gauteng’s killer asbestos schools
ASBESTOS SCHOOLS: COURT ACTION SUGGESTED TO DEAL WITH ISSUE
With the deadline for the removal of asbestos from schools having passed in 2008, the SA Democratic Teachers Union is threatening to sue the province’s education department over about 250 school buildings that still contain the deadly material.
‘Some sit in air-conditioned offices while others are subjected to health hazards.’
The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) says it may take the Gauteng education department to court over about 250 schools in the province still built entirely, or partially, with asbestos.
Hundreds of schools and other buildings in the province, dating back to the apartheid era, are built with the deadly material.
Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi recently confirmed in a written reply to a Democratic Alliance MP Khume Ramulifho that in addition to the 26 “asbestos schools” the department intended to replace within the next five years, there were about 240 schools which still had partial asbestos structures.
Asbestos became a banned material in South Africa in 2008.
Referring to the landmark ruling of the Eastern Cape High Court in Bisho, which clarified the department’s responsibility in meeting the norms and standards of school infrastructure, Sadtu secretary-general Mugwena Maluleke said it was concerning that despite the ruling, teachers and pupils were still subjected to unsafe buildings.
“In our last congress we said that such things should be taken to court where there is noncompliance with the health standards,” said Maluleke.
“The courts made it very clear what the department has to do so, as an organisation that stands for dignity and equality, we cannot allow a situation where some sit in offices that are air-conditioned while others are subjected to health hazards.
“We are entitled to, as an organisation, take the department to court for not ensuring compliance.”
In 2013, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga set the deadline for the eradication of asbestos schools for November 29, 2016.
A 2017 report by the National Institute for Occupational Health said asbestos structures in schools affected more than 25 000 pupils and nearly 700 teachers who attended these schools.
Lesufi’s spokesperson, Steve Mabona, repeated the MEC’s commitment to remove “all asbestos school within the next five years”.