Ezibeleni School for Physically Disabled children in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, are forced to crawl into classrooms due to no wheelchair access. The school has for the past 13 years, been forced to operate on an unsafe dolomite site.
In 2012, the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) promised to relocate Ezibeleni due to a dangerous dolomite sinkhole that rendered the site unsafe. Even the nearby old Natalspruit Hospital at that time was relocated. Yet 12 years on, the children are still being taught in cracked and possibly subsiding buildings that are not fit for purpose, particularly for disabled children.
These shocking conditions, which these children are exposed to daily, were discovered by the Democratic Alliance (DA) during a recent oversight inspection at the school.
Ezibeleni is home to 240 learners with severe physical and intellectual disabilities. Many cannot speak for themselves and rely on adults and effective systems of leadership.
Instead, their needs are not met and demands to the GDE for action are ignored.
The school has not had a principal since 2023 and has only two drivers to transport 200 learners. New teachers at the school do not receive the special training required to teach disabled children, who often need specific teaching aids and have high emotional needs that require specialised teaching methods.
An additional strain on the school, learners and staff is the high crime rate mainly hijackings on the way to school and crime on the school grounds.
This situation indicates that GDE is insensitive and disconnected from the needs of disabled children. This is not simply a policy failure it is moral negligence that illustrates how far Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s government has drifted from the lived reality of the people it is meant to serve.
The DA Gauteng urges GDE to act quickly, to relocate the school to a safe and dignified facility, to appoint a permanent principal and to unfreeze all critical posts, including those for therapists, classroom aides, nurses and drivers. It is also essential to implement mandatory training in special needs education for all staff in schools that serve this education sector. The school needs to be properly fenced, and drivers vetted to ensure the safety of learners and staff.
A DA-led Gauteng Provincial Government would have relocated this school to a safe site. We would fill all the vacant posts, ensure adequate resources and partner with the South African Police Service (SAPS) and Community Policing forums to ensure the safety of the school.
These children do not need more broken promises. They need hope. They need leadership. They need a government that sees them, hears them and acts for them. What is happening at Ezibeleni is a failure of basic humanity.