Parents of Keotshepile Primary School are desperate about the lack of water at the school.
Pule Isaac Mokwele, a parent of two pupils, is in despair about the crisis. “This matter doesn’t sit well with me at all,” he complains. He adds that there is no water in the toilets, which means they do not flush and it smells dreadful. With the lack of water, the kitchen staff cannot prepare meals for the pupils. At times, they have to ask for water from nearby houses.
Pule says his children regularly complain about the lack of water. They have been asked to bring water from home, but some children do not. “This matter pains me a lot,” says the frustrated father.
Mathapelo Gasenwe also has two children at the school. She confirms that this has been a problem since the schools reopened, but there haven’t been any permanent resolutions. The parents heard that a pipe was supposed to have been fixed.
She says this is a hygiene problem and health-risk for the children and staff and they now have to use the mobile toilets.
Mathapelo adds that the children sometimes have to share their water with their fellow-learners or teachers.
She recalls the day her children told her the Jojo tanks broke and they had no water for the whole day. As a result, the learners went home early. This, she says, is the solution the school resorts to when there is no water. “The children were once sent home at around midday and we weren’t informed. They had to sit and wait for the school transport to collect them,” she says.
A parent of a grade R learner agrees with the parents, although her child was not as affected as the older children were. She says the situation is bad for the children’s health as they need water daily. “This is a major problem; water is life,” she says. She confirms that the provision of water has been a problem since the schools reopened. The parents plead with the relevant stakeholders to solve the crisis.
According to the provincial spokesperson of the Department of Education, Elias Malindi, the relevant authorities have addressed the issue and have provided mobile toilets and Jojo tanks for the school. However, he admits, the Jojo tanks were not mounted, so some of them had broken during strong winds. “The problem persisted because, most of the time, there was no water in the taps to fill the Jojo tanks,
“The new Jojos will be placed on frames to ensure they do not break,” he says.
Malindi says they received another letter from the school principal regarding the lack of tap water after the tanks were provided. They, therefore, then commenced with the process of supplying a borehole. “The tender for the digging has been advertised at a district level and submissions closed on Thursday, 29 November 2019″.
Malindi says the department has already appointed a contractor and the site will be handed over to the contractor by Friday (6 December). They are now only waiting for the orders to purchase and install the tanks.
