Sanitation concerns have been raised over Klopperpark Primary School.

Ward 92 Clr Kade Guerreiro conducted an oversight at the non-fee-paying school on January 23 and shared these concerns.

“As much as we can take our hats off to every educator at this school because of the immense work that they do, they do have a number of challenges at the moment.

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“The school is exceeding 2 400 learners. They are having a huge problem with regard to their sewerage system,” revealed Guerreiro.

He added that, since it is a non-fee-paying school, the most vulnerable were reliant on it, which was originally meant to serve 600 learners.

The councillor revealed that currently, only seven flushing toilets work, not just for learners but for the entire school.

He explained, “In other words, all the teachers, staff and learners have only seven toilets. That means you basically have about 350 people per toilet, and that’s just inhumane.”

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Guerreiro said the Department of Education delivered 32 adult chemical toilets to the school. However, most of the children could not reach the toilet or the urinal, so they were exposed to a lot of unhygienic conditions.

“The day I was here, a little girl went into the toilet and within seconds she was out. It means she had not used the bathroom.

“Many of the parents have said to me that the children are actually suffering from constipation because they keep it in the entire day and only relieve themselves when they get home,” said Guerreiro.

He requested that the City of Ekurhuleni and the Gauteng Department of Education prioritise the children.

“I can only thank all the staff, the teachers, I take my hat off to them. Firstly, to cope with that many children per class and still ensure they are clean is not simple at all. So it’s not a good situation. The community are complaining that they can smell this sewerage now,” the councillor said.

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A resident who stays a couple of streets away from the school, Jenny Moss said, “The floors of the existing toilets are falling apart. The smell that comes from there in the afternoon is unbearable.

“There is no hygiene because they hardly have any chemicals to clean up the toilets.”

Moss, who has lived in that area for 12 years, expressed her sympathy for the parents whose children attend Klopperpark Primary and said that if she had a child there, she would have made a fuss.

Meanwhile, Geurreiro appealed to the community and businesses for detergents, cleaning chemicals and sanitisers to use at the school. The Department of Education was contacted for comment on January 23 and had not yet provided comment at the time of going to print.