A number of Grahamstown schools have been affected by water cuts in the township. Learners at Samuel Ntsiko Primary School were sent home at 11.30am on Tuesday and Wednesday last week because there was no water.
A number of Grahamstown schools have been affected by water cuts in the township. Learners at Samuel Ntsiko Primary School were sent home at 11.30am on Tuesday and Wednesday last week because there was no water.
Principal Nombulelo Kolito says that she had to call the Department of Education to allow the learners to knock off early this week. Kolito says they haven’t been able to flush the toilets. “We cannot allow learners to mess around the yard,” as they urinate and defacate around the corners and verandas of the school.
She decided to call the fire department on Wednesday morning and they brought a tank of water in the afternoon.
A teacher at the school, who asked not to be identified, said lessons were disrupted "because the kids want to go to the toilets and they can’t, they want to drink water, they can’t". She said the teachers have been behind schedule.
The principal of Fikizolo Primary School, Monde Dlephu, said he can’t let the children go home without permission from the Department of Education. He said the school is solely dependent on rainwater and that the tank is now a quarter full. If the problem persists, he will have to report to the Department of Education. “We can’t simply release the learners. Yesterday the water came back but again it was brown. We’ve locked the toilets today at 11.30am today,” he said.
Dlephu said that the municipality did not even call them and warn them. “They should have let us know. I don’t know about tomorrow. Let’s cross our fingers that we get water tomorrow,” he said.
Nombelelo High School had an arrangement with the fire department to bring water every second day, according to principal Mthuthuzeli Koliti. CM Vellem has also struggled with water outages since the beginning of the third term, and received water from the fire department on Wednesday.
Makana Municipality spokesperson Thandy Matebese said it has been brought to his attention that there is no water in the Raglan Road area. “I spoke with the directorate dealing with water. They are still investigating the cause," he said.
