MIDDELBURG – Twelve-year-old Thando Mahlangu no longer has to walk long distances or depend on expensive scholar transport to get to school after the Mpumalanga government officially handed over the new R67 million Extension 24 Primary School in Rockdale on Thursday.
For Thando, who lives in Rockdale Extension 2, the new school, built just a few hundred metres from her home, is more than just classrooms. The money her family will save on transport could now help them install WiFi at home to support her studies.
She previously attended a school at the entrance of Extension 24, far from home, forcing her parents to pay for transport every month.
“There I was suffering going to school because it is far and my parents were forced to pay for transport. They are not going to pay now, that is why I want them to get WiFi,” she told Highveld Chronicle.
“I really need it at home to connect to the internet because Google has answers to most of the school-related questions we ask,” said Thando.
Thando is one of 1 135 learners who will benefit from the state-of-the-art school, which was handed over by MEC for Public Works, Roads and Transport Thulasizwe Thomo, together with Education MEC Lindi Masina, on 27 August 2026.
The school comprises 24 classrooms, two Grade R blocks, an administration block, library, computer centre, kitchen, six ablution blocks, guard house, fencing and gates, a soccer field and two combi-courts, as well as solar power and covered walkways.
Construction started in September 2024 and was completed in May this year in response to rapid population growth in Rockdale, one of Middelburg’s fastest-growing extensions.
During construction, 90 job opportunities were created for youth, women and persons with disabilities, while more than R11 million was spent on 31 local SMMEs and suppliers.
“This is the third school that we are opening. We are not just building schools, these are institutions of learning different from what you know as a normal school. We are building proper, state-of-the-art structures, something that you can find in well-urbanised areas,” said Thomo.
Masina said the school gives practical meaning to the Freedom Charter principle that the doors of learning and culture shall be opened to all.
“This school represents hope, dignity and the determination of the government to ensure that every child, regardless of where they come from, has access to a safe, conducive and quality learning and teaching environment,” she said.
She appealed to the community to protect the school as their own.
SGB chairperson Busisiwe Zitha said the school brings hope after years of overcrowding.
“The new school gives us hope that we can invest in the quality education of our learners in an environment that is conducive. We come from a situation where there was overcrowding and teachers could not pay attention to every learner. This school has many classrooms and facilities such as a computer lab and library, which will greatly assist our learners to get additional information for their projects and homework,” said Zitha.
For Thando, having a school closer to home means more than saving on transport. It could also give her the internet access she says she needs to improve her learning at home.
