Portrait of a Place

By Asive Mzizi

“Benjamin Mahlasela Secondary School, located in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape, was first established in the 1980s and started as a result of having an outstanding number of pupils that were not in school as they could not find a placement, as well as several unemployed educators. The school was officially opened in 1996 and since had been progressing well with an achievement of a 100% pass rate in the year 2010. However, over the years, the attendance of students decreased and later resulted in an absolute decline, which followed the shutdown of the school in 2013. The skeletal buildings are all that remain.”