Johannesburg – Gauteng MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture & Recreation Lebogang Maile has visited Riverlea Secondary School, where several classrooms were burnt overnight in a suspected arson attack.
During his visit on Wednesday, 8 April 2026, MEC Maile said: “There can be no justification to burn a school”.
He stressed that the fire that broke out at the school “cannot be justified, no matter the level of anger or frustration”.
As a result of the fire, as many as 320 schoolchildren are now without classrooms.
After assessing the extent of the structural damage, MEC Maile described the act of torching the classrooms as criminal.
He said arson must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
MEC Maile stated: “We further engaged with school management on the immediate interventions required to support the school community, including temporary alternative accommodation for the learners, and on the way forward to restore the affected infrastructure”.
Commenting on the suspected arson attack on the school, Sergio Isa Dos Santos, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, noted that the devastating fire was the second in recent times.
The DA shadow MEC said last night’s fire incident was suspected to be arson, which left several classrooms, laboratories, and the library completely gutted, compounding an already dire situation at the school.
He pointed out that some of the damage at the school was from the previous fire.
“Despite the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) confirming that a contractor had been appointed to repair the fire damage from April 2025, no work has been done due to budgetary constraints,” Dos Santos said.
“The project, handed over to the Department of Infrastructure and Development (GDID), remains untouched.
“The GDE confirms budgetary constraints despite the school being due for an infrastructure upgrade.”
Dos Santos said Grade 8 and 9 learners were forced to use the school hall, which is not conducive to learning and teaching.
“The school urgently needs additional classrooms with furniture, including the mobile classrooms, which lack efficient furniture,” Dos Santos said.
“Sanitation is also inadequate, placing learners’ dignity and health at continued risk.
“There are serious concerns regarding security at the school, which is inadequate despite fires and thefts.”
The DA shadow MEC said insufficient lighting at the school, combined with relatively easy access to the school from an open space, which is not maintained, creates an environment attractive to criminal activity and vandalism.
“These conditions not only expose infrastructure to further damage but also place learners and educators at risk,” Dos Santos said.
