“Our schools must be declared disaster areas.”
This was the desperate plea from an education administrator in Thabazimbi, Limpopo following the heavy rains that plagued large parts of South Africa for a week.
The circuit manager from the Waterberg Education District reported to the head office in Polokwane about the impact of the persistent rainfall in the area.
The torrential rains have caused severe damage in parts of Limpopo which has caused a pause to learning and teaching in some schools.
Earlier this week, the South African Weather Service issued level 5 warnings for majority of the week, but later bumped it up to level 6, for heavy and disruptive rains in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, parts of Limpopo, the Eastern Cape and parts of Mpumalanga.
With every rainy day, there was additional destruction to schools, with some still battling to recover from rains in 2024.
The Limpopo education department says learning and teaching in the Waterberg has proven to be difficult during this time, as classrooms, teachers hostels, and the school grounds and surroundings are flooded muddy.
“Naletsana Combined School in Doornfontein is one of the hardest hit schools, with learning expected to resume on Monday, after clean-up operations which will begin during the weekend,” said spokesperson Mike Maringa
Meanwhile in the neighboring province of the North West, the Head of Department (HoD) Prince Masilo issued a circular urging schools to prioritise the safety of learners as the rain persists. Over 27 schools have been affected by the heavy rains, with the roofs in classes either leaking, blown off or caved in, or all three in severe cases. There have also been reports of some schools in the province not having electricity or access to ablution facilities. This once again raises the ongoing concern of proper infrastructure for all schools throughout the country.
Some schools registered less than 85% attendance as learners and teachers could not make their school due to flooded roads.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Cape is in mourning, following the deaths of two learners, aged 13 and 14 from Mhlanga Secondary School. According to the provincial education department’s spokesperson, Mali Mtima, the learners passed away while attempting to cross a river, near Mtontsasa location, to try get home after being released from school early due to bad weather conditions.
“We urge all schools and communities to exercise extreme caution during severe weather conditions and to always prioritize the safety of learners,” Mtima added
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) says it is working with provinces to ensure learners and teachers are safe adding that the recent infrastructure damage due to the heavy rains, will cause an additional backlog to work that has already been done.“We remain committed to improving the infrastructure in all schools, but the recently damaged schools will now take preference, in order for learning and teaching to resume as soon as possible and learners do not miss out on too many schooling days,” said DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga.