RAD pupils strike over "maltreatment"

ISAIAH MOREWAGAE
Staff Writer | Tuesday November 3, 2009 00:00

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ngwaketse West, Memphato Reatile, said in an interview that the problem of food shortages at the RAD hostels was not new.

'The problem has been there, but it is the first time the students have gone on strike over it', Reatile said.

He says he was informed of the strike on Thursday morning soon after it began. The problem is a persistent one. In 2003, the then M P for Ngwaketse West, Michael Tshipinare, had to intervene when parents of 62 children threatened to withdraw their children from primary school in protest over their children's maltreatment and poor living conditions.

The problem re-surfaced in 2007 when parents raised similar complaints, but council authorities persuaded them to let the children to stay and continue with their studies. The matron would not comment on the latest situation.

'You can contact a Mabutsane sub-district official by the name of Selelo,' the matron said on the phone. 'They are the ones who know about the problem.'

However, Selelo and other relevant sub-district authorities were not available for comment as they were said to be in a meeting at the headquarters of the Southern District Council in Kanye.