The heavy storm that swooped down on Polokwane and elsewhere in the province over the past weekend left its mark on municipal infrastructure and saw over 300 learners in Moletjie stranded when the roof of their school was blown away.
In Polokwane, according to Matshidiso Mothapo, Polokwane Municipality communications and marketing manager, the storm on Saturday afternoon caused damage to overhead electrical cables and other parts of the electrical network. This left parts of the city without electricity for some 16 hours. However, the municipal electrical department spent most of Sunday dealing with various electrical faults. “Other than this damage, there hasn’t been any other storm damage reported to us,” Mothapo said.
Over 300 learners from Sehlagane Primary School in Ga-Matamanyane, Moletjie were stranded on Monday morning as the roof on five classrooms was blown away by the wind and two learners later sustained injuries from the debris lying around.
Confusion, sadness and misery were all that could be seen on these learners’ faces as they had no classrooms to attend lessons in. School Governing Body (SGB) deputy chairperson Maggie Magolo emphasised that they had to squeeze the affected learners in the remaining eight classrooms whereas the school has been experiencing overcrowding even before the five classrooms were destroyed.
She further stated that affected grades are 4, 5, 6, 7 and R and reiterated that each class is currently occupied by over 70 learners which will affect learning and teaching. Magolo highlighted that they had encountered two incidents on Monday already where two learners had to be rushed to a local clinic to receive medical treatment after being injuried by loose corrugated iron sheets in the aftermath of the storm. She indicated that SGB chairperson Simon Sethosa had to take leave from his workplace to guard learners, especially the little ones to ensure their safety, adding that the two injured learners are all in Grade 7 and expected them to behave better.
“We had only seven classrooms remaining which forced us to turn the staffroom into a class. Each classroom has over 70 learners and this will make teaching and learning difficult. We request temporary measures such as mobile classrooms for learners to attend lessons without any hiccups. This is the first time we experience such incident at the school,” Magolo stressed.
On Monday, Department of Education spokesperson Sam Makondo said assessment of the damage will be done on the day to know the extent of the disaster, adding that course of action will be determined by the outcome of the evaluation. He also said that it is always a setback when schools are damaged as this adds to schools infrastructure challenges faced in the province.
On Tuesday morning, Makondo indicated that the assessment at the school is still ongoing and reiterated that the district office will conclude a report and submit to the Superintendent General of the department for further processing. He further stated that teaching and learning is proceeding as the remaining classrooms are able to accommodate all the affected learners while they wait for the finalisation of the assessment.
Story & photos:
ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za
KAREN VENTER
>>karen@observer.co.za
