Durban - Nearly 900 pupils from St Augustine's Catholic Primary School in Greyville in Durban returned to school on Monday, after sitting at home for over two weeks due to sewage spilling into the school from a blocked sewerage line.
After speaking to the School Governing Body (SGB) and parents during a visit to the school on 24 May, The Mercury reported that the issue began on May 11 when raw sewage began seeping through school drains, on to the assembly area, netball court, front lawn and into the school hall.
The situation worsened the next day when pupils and teachers started getting sick and parents were called to fetch their children from school.
In an update, eThekwini Municipality’s head of communications Lindiwe Khuzwayo, said the sewer overflow at the school has been cleared.
Khuzwayo said eThekwini Water and Sanitation worked around the clock to unblock the major sewer line that resulted in flooding at the school.
She said the sewer line services areas such as Morningside, Musgrave and Berea.
“During the operation, the City’s team also disinfected the school with proactive measures implemented to prevent re-occurrence. Residents are urged not to misuse the sewer system by throwing foreign objects into it, as this is the cause of blockages and sewer overflows,” she said.
In a letter seen by The Mercury, sent to the parents by the school on May 28, principal Craig Thomas said they had been to the school to check on the progress of repairs and reported that there was significant improvement in the drainage.
“eThekwini Municipality has done a marvellous job of securing our premises and the Department of Health has now deemed our school safe for return. Therefore, we are pleased to report that school will reopen on Monday, May 29, 2023,” said the letter.
In the letter, Thomas said there is “quite a bit of work to catch up with” and that school hours would be extended during the week with extra classes on Saturdays, These extra classes were scheduled for June 3, 10 and 17.
He said school will close for the holidays on June 23 as scheduled.
Speaking to The Mercury on Tuesday, parent Lee-Anne Beaunoir, said her 11-year-old daughter returned to school on Monday, May 29.
Beaunoir said the school has a plan in place to ensure the pupils catch up with their work ahead of exams.
“The children have got to go to school half an hour early and finish half an hour late and they must go to school on Saturday. This will continue until the end of this term to make up for the lost time,” she said.
Beaunoir added that the municipality kept its promise to get the children back to school last week Monday.