School fears for children’s safety

BADFONTEIN – After several months have passed and nothing has been done to improve the condition of the R36, Klipspruit Combined School now fears for the lives of its pupils. “We continuously witness accidents on the road – in one of them a school teacher took weeks to recover in hospital,” said Mr Mtimunye Elias, chairman of the school governing body.

The school is situated about 28 kilometres from Lydenburg on the R36 between Lydenburg Machadodorp. Learners travel on this road daily in buses. “They report to the school that this traumatises them as the road is so unsafe.”

“We drive under a lot of pressure and we notice on a daily basis how terrified the pupils are, especially when the bus swerves off the road to avoid the potholes,” said one of the bus drivers, Mr Bongani Shabangu. According to Ms Hazel Ngobeni, principal of the school, it is not only the children travelling by bus whose lives are in danger, but also those walking along the road.

Some vehicles, particularly trucks that leave the road to circumvent the potholes, pose a danger. “We care for our children and plead that the department ensure they arrive safely at school,” said Ngobeni. “Parents spend the whole day edgy, hoping that their kids reach their destinations,” said Elias. According to him, parents said they intended to prevent their kids from travelling this route as they could not sit back and wait until the end of time for the road to be fixed.

“We ask the people responsible for this to address this situation before something terrible happens to our loved ones.”

Last week Steelburger/Lydenburg News reported on the formal complaint which was lodged with Adv Kevin Sifiso Malunga, deputy public protector, against the Mpumalanga Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport.

According to Ms Thobi Zuma, Mr Fritz Louw’s complaint had been registered, assessed and transferred to the Mpumalanga office on January 14. Malunga said the department and Louw would soon be called up for a mediation session. In the meantime road users urged the department and various stakeholders to fill certain potholes where they spanned the entire width of the road.