By Sinegugu Ndlovu & Kamini Padayachee
Parents and teachers from a KwaZulu-Natal rural village fear for the lives of their children who swim across the wide Tugela River each day to get to school.
More than 500 pupils from two schools are forced to brave the river using tyre inner tubes and sealed buckets as flotation devices.
The daily ordeal for residents of Sahlumbe, a rural village in Weenen, began two months ago when the community's boat disappeared.
The river was known to contain crocodiles On Wednesday and yThursday the pupils, from Thuthukani primary and Mabizela high schools, contended with a river swollen by Tuesday night's heavy rain. Locals said the river was known to contain crocodiles.
Continues Below ↓
Dressed only in their underwear, pupils as young as seven use tyre tubes and buckets to swim across the river. The buckets are also used to keep their school uniforms and books dry during the crossing.
A local said three to four children drowned annually in the river.
"Crocodiles are sometimes seen on the river banks and one can't imagine the fear that grips me when my grandchild comes home late.
"In winter they have to swim through the freezing water. It's very difficult for our children. At least a footbridge should be built across the river to ensure their safety," said Chefe Dladla.
Children don't cope in class because they have to swim through cold water to get to school Thuthukani principal Hlengiwe Mthembu said the pass rate at the school was poor because of infrastructure challenges the pupils faced daily. On Monday only half of the pupils arrived for school because many could not cross the swollen river.
"Education at the school is taking a knock because children arrive late at school or not at all when the river is full. Children, especially in winter, don't cope in class because they have to swim through cold water to get to school. On rainy days about half of pupils don't come to school because parents can't afford to pay for transport and it's too dangerous to swim across the river," she said.
Transport department spokesperson Nonkululeko Mbatha said the department was committed to building bridges, especially for pupils to get to school.
"The department of education gave us a list of schools that need pedestrian bridges and these bridges are one of our priorities. However, since there are 250 bridges needed by schools we do not have the capacity to construct them all in the same financial year. But we are going to build 13 to 14 pedestrian bridges this year."
Mbatha said she could not confirm if the two Sahlumbe schools were on the list they had received from the education department.
She said: "I am sure the department of education has done its homework and covered all the schools that need bridges. But the school can also make a request to the department of transport."
sinegugu.ndlovu@inl.co.za
kamini.padayachee.co.za
-
This article was originally published on page 4 of The Mercury on March 14, 2008
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
