Dear Mr McKenzie
As you know from your time in Beaufort West, Merweville is a small town with a high unemployment rate. We have the George Fredericks School and Laerskool Merweville. There are to many children from town and farms for just one school. But Laerskool Merweville is struggling. They applied for a 'no-fees' structure, but that was declined and, after a year since the appeal, still no answer. The school cannot be run successfully with no fees coming from the parents and little help from the government. The school just received their blue plate, it is an important building and place of teaching for the area.
On the 19th of November 2024 the power supply was once again cut at Merweville Laerskool and Huis Mervia. The school and hostel cannot provide the best care the children deserve without electricity. The account was in arrears for a long time and a lot has been paid, but without help they cannot do it.
At the hostel there were children that Social Welfare placed. These children basically trashed the building to the degree that a contractor had to be appointed to fix it up again. The contractor was appointed in January 2023 and was supposed to be finished by May 2023. The building still is not finished. Some doors can't lock, pipes are leaking, no hot water, broken taps... The fence has holes in where the kids cut the fence to get out. The contractor's people cut the security cameras' and security gates' power. So there are no cameras and the gate cannot close. They cannot take children in an environment that is not safe. Now the department has decided to cancel the personnel contracts. Does this mean they are closing the hostel? Or who is supposed to look after the few kids? If the building is safe, there can be more children. Because of incompetent contractors and a department refusing to look after their own buildings, people are losing jobs and the few children that are here will have nowhere to stay so they won't be able to go to school.
The new headmaster at Laerskool Merweville wants to start a school of skills as part of the school and hostel. Those plans were not approved. Surely that can bring much needed education to an area with almost 90% unemployment.
Is there any way you can help or advice on a way forward.
Thank you for your service.