Lower Illovo school drowns in sewage
Due to municipal workers not coming to use their honeysucker to regularly suck up the overflowing sewage – due to the strike – the problem has become unbearable for learners and teachers at the school.
ILLOVO Primary School’s governing body chairperson, Malcolm Naidoo, said the school has a long-standing sewage problem that has become unmanageable and dangerous because of the ongoing municipal strike.
Also read: Lower Illovo sewage crisis sickens community
Learners have had to endure a disruption to their learning experience because of sewage that has flooded the premises as eThekwini Municipal workers are not available to fix it.
“My main concern is the health and safety of the children. The municipality dealt with this sewage problem by sending a honeysucker regularly to suck up the overflowing sewage, but that has not happened since they went on strike,” said Naidoo.
The school recently wrote to parents and guardians, informing them that as long as the problem persists, the learners will be dismissed at 12:00. Naidoo said what worries him the most is the safety of the learners because their transport only fetches them at set times, and they have to sit and wait outside the school premises.
The SUN saw the letter from the principal to the parents and guardians. In it, the principal said the situation was unhygienic and unbearable for learners and staff. He asked for the children to be fetched on time for safety reasons.
The Lower Illovo Neighbourhood Watch’s public relations officer, Austin Gounden, said the situation at the school was saddening.
“The sudden change affects the learners in terms of transportation because parents work and lift clubs only fetch them at a certain time. It is a habit for learners to loiter around while waiting for transport – anything can happen. The principal has been pleading for help from all sources with no luck,” said Gounden.
Also read: Sewage causes a stink in Lower Illovo
He said the issue of sewage outfall has affected not only the school but the entire Lower Illovo.
“We have had our ratepayers’ association help with this situation in the past, and there’s still no hope. Our community swimming pool has been closed for about two years because of the sewage outfall. As a youth leader and someone who wants change to occur, I think it’s about time we stand up and fight this battle. This is not a threat to eThekwini Municipality but a warning that we won’t stay quiet any longer. Action needs to be taken right now,” he said.
At the time of going to press, the strike, which was deemed illegal by eThekwini, was still ongoing.
In a statement, eThekwini said it is dealing with the backlog of all outstanding municipal work, and it will be attended to soon.
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