Primary school battles ongoing sewage issue

For over a year, Bright Beginnings Primary School in Ikageng (formerly Basupi Primary) has been dealing with an on and off sewage issue, which seems to be getting worse by the day.

A school teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, says the toilet facilities are in very bad shape, and it is extremely unsafe and unhygienic for the children. “I have reported this crisis to the office and the principal numerous times, but nothing is being done about it,” she lamented.
According to her, the sewage has been spilling over next to the toilet building and onto the playground for the past few months. “The situation is becoming unbearable,” she said.

The acting principal of the school Mrs De Lange confirmed that the issue started in February last year. She says the school had been on top of the matter since the beginning. “We have now reached a stage where we are unsuccessful in unblocking the drain,” she said.

According to De Lange, two big trees on the premises contribute to the blockage. “On two occasions, we communicated with a municipal employee who did a site visit. We will get this issue resolved together,” she explained.
“We have an urgent SGB meeting where the infrastructure issue is also on the agenda.

We are looking to remove the trees causing the blockage and improve the entire sewage system,” she explained.
De Lange adds that emails have been sent to the circuit manager. their director and the manager of infrastructure at the department of education on behalf of the school. “We will get feedback on what they plan to do to assist and when they plan to come on board,” she said.
She added that they have already decided to take matters into their own hands if they take too long.
The school will negotiate for the department to pay part of the bill later because it will be a very expensive exercise.
“We are conscious of this issue and have already spent thousands of rands to alleviate it,” she concluded.
The Herald asked the municipality for comment but had received none by the time of going to print.