UPDATE: Rubbish still visible outside north school, two months on
The principal was worried about the health of asthmatic learners at the school.
Nothing has been done about a Soshanguve Block F primary school’s sidewalk, which has been turned into an illegal dump site, in the two months since a story about it appeared in the Rekord newspaper.
“We have been engaging local ward councillors on the problem,” Boepathutse junior secondary school deputy principal, principal Daniel Monama said at the time.
“They have promised to bring a waste container but nothing has been done.”
School principal Sarah Seroka told Rekord that towards the end of September, she spotted some so-called “Vat Alles” trying to remove the pile of rubble, rocks, rubbish and old discarded ceilings.
ALSO READ: North school a dumpsite for residents
Seroka said she approached the workers immediately when she saw that they were burning the pile.
Seroka’s was worried about the health of asthmatic learners at the school.
“I asked if they could please stop burning the pile as the smoke reached the classes,” said Seroka.
After the workers left, most of the unsightly waste was still there.
The school had been struggling to solve the problem for the past two years now.
A council of learners representative, Naledi Skosana (14), said even though some of the waste had been removed, a large area of the pavement was still covered with trash.
ALSO READ: UPDATE: City offers illegal dumping reward
“Our school is right next to a curvy road, which makes it difficult for us when we walk home in groups after school,” said Skosana.
“The road isn’t big enough for both pedestrians and cars, so an accident can easily happen.”
Tshwane north education department district director Shirley Molobi said illegal waste outside schools in Soshanguve was a widespread problem.
She said saying the matter rested with the metro.
Ward 33 councillor Isaac Aphane said the metro could not swiftly attend to illegal dumping sites because of a lack of resources.
“I went to the municipality to tell them to clean up the area and they did,” said Aphane.
“The next day, I saw residents have started dumping again; thus the residents are being irresponsible.”
ALSO READ: North primary school a dumping site for residents
Aphane said he and his colleagues have taken it upon themselves to clean and put up illegal waste signs.
“We are going to clean and put up a sign that we will design ourselves.”
Block F resident, Tshepo Chirwa told Rekord that “we dump waste because not everything can fit into our household rubbish bins”.
“If the municipality could provide those large waste containers in public places it would really help reduce illegal dumping.”
The metro could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press.
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