Three classrooms housing 320 Grade 10 and 11 pupils at Mdantsane’s Sakhisizwe High School were destroyed by a fire believed to have been started by pupils who were smoking behind the wooden structure.
Speaking after the blaze on Tuesday afternoon, principal of the NU13 school Themba Matika said he had no idea where to accommodate the pupils.
Matika said he and the school caretaker managed to save just under 50 desks.
The fire was noticed by the school’s caretaker.
“At 3.35pm, the caretaker yelled ‘Fire! Fire!’ and I jumped out and saw the structure engulfed in flames.
“We were joined by residents and used buckets of water to try and put it out. The flames were too ferocious. Luckily one of the residents had called fire fighters. The fire brigade arrived 10 minutes later and put out the blaze.”
Eastern Cape education superintendent general Themba Kojana was expected to arrive at the school on Tuesday night.
Department spokesperson Loyiso Pulumani said: “Mr Kojana is on his way to assess the extent of the damage at the school.
“Our level of intervention will be determined based on his findings.”..