The Gauteng Department of Education has confirmed that Soshanguve High School, near Pretoria, burnt down in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
According to a statement issued by the department, the principal was alerted to the fire by a community member and rushed to the school premises. On his arrival, he found firefighters and the police already on the scene.
Firefighters managed to extinguish the fire after a few hours. However, the school's administration block had burnt down.
All valuable equipment and furniture were lost in the fire. The value of the loss is still to be determined.
The fire department has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the fire, while the police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The education department confirmed that this was the fourth school to be torched in Soshanguve since the 21-day COVID-19 national lockdown period began.
“As a result, we can confirm that about 22 schools were vandalised in Gauteng since the lockdown period,” said Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi.
-African News Agency (ANA)
