Schools in Matjhabeng are drowning in sewage, with some even forced to close for undetermined periods of time because of health and safety issues.
The St Andrew’s School’s nightmare began in May 2021.
During December 2023 they experienced serious sewage flooding at the school’s boarding houses. The entrance to the hostel complex collapsed and they were forced to remove fencing from the other side of the Village hostel to function as an ad hoc entrance.
The Village houses about 13 learners, teachers, and staff.
In January, the municipality dug trenches around the village to divert the flow into the stormwater drains. “No one from Matjhabeng has been there since to do a follow-up,” says Gunter Hinrichs, headmaster of the school.
The trenches are still there, with raw sewage running into the storm drains behind the hostel complex.
“There is also a very deep hole that exposes the damaged sewer line with sewage flowing freely. Surrounding streets have sewage running down the road and, eventually, collecting at the trench the municipality dug. These trenches are wide and deep. No safeguarding or warnings are erected; very dangerous,” he says.
The Goudveld-Hoërskool had to urgently close its doors and send children home on 22 February after the sewage crisis got out of hand.
On 15 February the school had written to the mayor of Matjhabeng, Thanduxolo Khalipha, but nothing happened.
“The situation was very bad. Our hostel children have to walk to the school building to use ablutions. The Department of Health closed us down with immediate effect, and academics took a big blow,” says Hester Nortje, acting deputy principal.
At the moment there are strategically placed pumps and a diligent factotum keeping the school’s sewerage system limping along.
It costs the school R3 000 every time the drains block, and even engineers sent by the department could not give answers.
“This ongoing situation is having a devastating effect on the children, especially the girls. At night girls must plan to make use of the school’s bathroom facility, and during the day the constant usage collapses the system,” she says.
Kurt Olivier, principal of the Orion School, says the school has an enormous sewage problem that stretches over more than five years.
This school is situated next to the sewage fiasco in Koppie Alleen Road, and bemoans the fact that Welkom does not have an active sewage plant or system.
“The four pumps that were around the school are gone. They were taken away by the municipality three months ago. The boys cannot use their bathroom and the smell is unbearable.
“We are being carried away by a mosquito plague,” he says.
The school has thus far remained open, but the situation is unbearable. Olivier says the municipality has not yet attempted to fix the situation and they have not presented any plans to solve the crisis.
These are not the only three schools in Matjhabeng drowning in sewage. Other affected areas include Allanridge, Odendaalsrus, Hennenman, Meloding, Virginia, Bronville, and Thabong.
