KZN floods severely damage 59 schools across 9 districts
Recent storms and floods in KwaZulu-Natal have caused severe damage to school infrastructure, with 59 schools in 9 of the 12 districts affected, said MEC Mbali Frazer on Sunday.
This comes as the province battles severe weather in several parts, resulting in the loss of 43 lives, with some still missing.
The storm that swept through KZN last night also caused extensive damage to Eskom’s networks, leaving several areas in the dark.
The most affected areas include Pietermaritzburg, Margate, Kokstad, Newcastle, Ladysmith, Stanger, Zululand and Empangeni.
Pupils are expected back in schools on Wednesday.
The KZN department of education has assured parents that it has put in place various measures to ensure that affected schools are provided with interim measures, including mobile classrooms, mobile ablution facilities and the dislodging of existing ablution facilities.
“The ultimate responsibility of the department is to ensure the provision of an environment that is conducive for teaching and learning,” said Frazer.
“Given all the measures and interventions stated above, the department of education in KwaZulu-Natal is ready and prepared for the beginning of the 2024 academic year.”
The department says it has put systems in place to ensure that the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) commences on Wednesday when schools open.
“The 1,747 appointed service providers, who are currently in their second year of contract, are ready to start the supply and delivery of food items to schools from tomorrow, Monday, 15 January 2024. This will ensure that all schools are able to provide meals to the pupils on their first day of school,” it said.
It is working with service providers to ensure that there are sufficient supplies for all the 11 feeding days in January.
The province experienced food delivery challenges that left pupils in some areas without meals at the beginning of the second term last year.
The crisis attracted an intervention from the national government, with Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga travelling to the province to assess the state of readiness in the implementation of the feeding programme.
Motshekga at the time announced the department had allocated R9.279 billion of its R31.8 billion budget to the NSPS for the 2023/24 financial year.
According to Motshekga, the nutrition program feeds about 9.6 million children on a daily basis across the country.
In other news – PICS: Comedian William Last KRM welcomes his baby girl
Popular Botswana comedian and TikTokker, Bofelo William Molebatsi, popularly known as William Last KRM has recently taken to Instagram and announced that he is now a father of two daughters after welcoming his second-born as seen on his post shared on Saturday, 6 January.
On his feed, William Last KRM can be seen posing with his adorable tiny tot in a picture. He wore a white singlet vest and green hat, while the baby on his arms was dressed in a cute yellow romper. Read More
