A parent and a member of the Attwell Madala Senior Secondary School’s governing body, Andreus Ndoyisile Fudumele, said the classroom shortage was severe for four overcrowded schools in the Mthatha area.
Parents at Attwell Madala, Dudumayo Senior Secondary School, Mnceba Senior Secondary School and Enduku Junior Secondary took the Eastern Cape Department of Education to court in 2018. In November that year, the late head of the department, Themba Kojana, who died in January 2021, said he agreed with the parents that the schools were severely overcrowded and that urgent intervention was required.
The next year, in a violent protest triggered by the overcrowded classrooms at the school, nine prefab classes were burnt down by angry learners and residents.