Pretoria - Learners, who were relocated with their families from the dolomatic Bapsfontein informal settlement, were this morning taken to their different schools by buses arranged by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and the Gauteng Education Department.
Schools reopened this morning for the 2011 academic year. From today onwards, the buses will pick them up at 7.30am and bring them back to their homes after school.
Families from the highly unstable Bapsfontein area, which was declared unsafe for human settlement, have been going through a relocation process to a transit area next to Chief Albert Luthuli township near Benoni. About 3 000 families are being relocated.
The Bapsfontein informal settlement was declared a local state of disaster area due to dolomite instability. Over time, dolomite poses a danger to people exposed to it, and sink holes eventually occur in the land.
Since late December, the municipality has been temporarily moving residents to the N12 Highway Park, which is close to Puttfontein and Benoni roads.
