No easy solution for Lerekhureng

STEENBOKPAN – The old hostel of Steenbokpan Primary that was converted into housing units for low income people has become a bone of contention between learners at Lerekhureng Combined school and the mostly elderly residents of the units.
In January, Northern News reported that the ten families living in the hostels feared they would be left homeless if their housing units were to be used as classrooms by Lerekhureng after the school was vandalised and suffered damage during rain storms. “I earn a small pension, and after covering my basic needs there is almost nothing left for me to live on,” Mariette Grobbelaar one of the elderly residents said at the time.
The families were moved into the old Steenbokpan primary school’s hostel when the school closed in the early eighties and has been home to about ten families.
The principal of Lerekhureng, Jacob Lamola, has put up a valiant effort to accommodate his students without disrupting the people in the housing units. Meetings were held between community members, businesses and the school and resulted in donations of tables and other essential furniture, while the students were temporarily placed at Steenbokpan community hall.
During the community policing forum (CPF) meeting last Thursday, Nico Pienaar, constituency officer of the DA, said that he spoke to some of the elderly people living in the housing units and claimed that they were threatened and asked to leave their homes. “I have not been able to establish who made the threats but apparently some people approached the elderly residents and told them to move their furniture because they want to use the units as office space.”
While the plight of the residents is understandable because of the high expenses of accommodation in Lephalale and their inability to pay for alternative housing the school is also in a huge predicament. Currently, they have 320 learners and their classrooms are uninhabitable.
“I don’t want to withhold a proper education from anybody, but I also feel strongly that the current residents are entitled to a safe and secure place to stay,” Pienaar said.
Lofty Fourie, who chaired the CPF mee-ting, proposed that the community should get involved in upgrading the school thus ensuring that the elderly people can remain where they are while at the same time ensuring that the learners get a proper education.
A source at the Department of Education, who asked not to be named, said that they are in discussions with Eskom to fix some of the damage to the school. “We have also contacted Boikarabelo which will donate three mobile classrooms.”
The source also stated that the department wants to formalise tennure on the land on which the school is situated in order to build a new school. “We are still in discussions about this idea and I am not able to elaborate on this plan but in the long run a new school would be beneficial to the education of the students.”