Sewage at school is an ongoing problem
A manhole at Letaba Special School which was spilling raw sewage into the Letaba River for months has finally been fixed.
This has been an ongoing problem for more than five years. The manhole carries sewage from the Letaba Hospital, Yingisani School, and Letaba Special School, which are next door to each other. Two weeks ago the Herald was made aware of the problem by EFF chairperson in Ward 19 of the Greater Tzaneen municipal area, Given Mlondobodzi, his deputy chair Collen Manyike and concerned resident, Elizabeth Shingange.
The trio was concerned about the well-being of residents who are swimming, washing cars, and fishing at the river. “It has come to our attention that even some of the learners at school, sometimes play in the sewage water which is not good for their health. We are also worried about the cleanliness of water especially in the Nkowankowa area, as dirty water flows out of the taps sometimes. ‘Are we drinking sewage?’ is the question that we are asking,” Mlondobodzi explained.
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It is believed that the cause of the mess is a nonoperational pump station which is situated at the school and is supposed to pump the hospital’s wastewater to the purifying plant. The manhole cracked open due to the internal pressure caused by a blockage in the system. In March 2017 and in January 2018 the Herald wrote about the same issue and in 2017 the Democratic Alliance (DA) claimed that they had found human excretion, blood, toxic waste, and other dangerous medical waste.
The DA had threatened to report the Letaba Hospital to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for putting the health of the community at risk. At the moment it is not clear what the outcome of the report was. Mlondobodzi stated that they are happy that the manhole is now fixed, but says that this does not solve the problem. “I believe this is a temporary solution to a massive problem. The pump station which hasn’t been operational for years needs to be fixed, otherwise, there will be another blockage which will lead to more problems,” he said.
Mike Maringa spokesman of the Department of Education, confirmed that they were working with different stakeholders to fix the problem. The Herald will follow up on this situation as developments unfold.
