Water: South Africa schools’ state of unreadiness

All schools in the country will by this weekend have water tanks, or a steady supply of flowing water. This was announced by a representative from Rand Water, Tebogo Joala, during a briefing by the Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga earlier today on the state of readiness for schools to reopen.

Rand Water is the Department of Basic Education’s implementing partner for the delivery of water and sanitation. According to Joala, only Gauteng and the Western Cape had met the sufficient requirements in terms of water and sanitation on school premises in order to receive learners.

The situation at the remaining provinces, however, looked dire, with 3 126 schools that needed assistance in one form or another.  In terms of the numbers, the biggest need was in KwaZulu-Natal where 1 125 schools needed assistance in the form of either tanks or a water reticulation system, followed by the Eastern Cape (756), Limpopo (475) and Mpumalanga (435).

Joala presented figures in terms of how far progress was being made.  In some instances, only water reticulation systems needed to be installed, while in others, tanks were at a central point and just needed to be transported to schools in need.

Of the 3 126 schools that need assistance, 2 634 don’t have water tanks and thus, no access to water. Tanks are currently on the way to schools, as teaching cannot resume given the national Health Department protocols in the fight against Covid-19.

Earlier in the briefing, the minister outlined reasons for the postponement of the return to schools of Gr 7 and Gr 12 learners, saying lengthy discussions around schools’ readiness led to the decision.

On Saturday, the minister, Council of Education Ministers, teacher unions and school governing bodies all joined a meeting in which to assess readiness.  The minister earlier today announced that schools who are ready, should use this week for induction purposes, while learning and teaching in all schools should effectively start on Monday, 8 June.

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