Cape Town - The first day of the new term lasted just three hours at a Bonteheuwel primary school, recently attacked by arsonists, after pupils had to stand in a long queue to use the only toilet available to more than 500 children.
Teachers at Cedar Primary School had to walk to neighbouring schools to use the toilets.
“Granny, I had to wait really long for the toilet and thought I wasn’t going to make it,” shouted one little girl when her grandmother arrived to collect her just after 11am.
Last month the Cape Argus reported that the school’s administration block had been burgled and then gutted in a suspected arson attack.
Principal Carlin Symonds’s office, a copy room, the staff room, the toilets, a kitchen and the secretary’s office were destroyed.
Symonds said it had not been the first time this year that vandals and burglars had targeted the school.
The incident came two weeks after the school had taken part in a march against burglaries at schools in their area.
Shortly after the incident, residents tried to apprehend two perpetrators with sports bags they had spotted on the school grounds, but they got away.
On Monday, Symonds said the Western Cape Education Department had informed the school that mobile toilets had been ordered and would be in place when the school reopened for the new term.
They weren’t.
The gutted administration block had been cordoned off, so there was also a long queue of pupils waiting to use one toilet.
Symonds said she had told parents on Monday morning that there was only one toilet, and many had opted to collect their children early.
She said the school had been dealt another blow when food from the feeding scheme was stolen during the holidays, allegedly by security staff who were supposed to guard the school.
“One of the problems is that parts of our fence are missing, leaving the school exposed.”
Symonds has had to move into a classroom with another teacher because her office is too damaged to be used.
Parents and grandparents who collected their children on Monday said they couldn’t understand why the mobile toilets had not been arranged during the holidays.
Some worried about girls and boys using the same toilet.
“One toilet can’t accommodate the whole school. It’s not right that they have to stand in a long queue for the toilet,” said grandmother Zuleiga Bartlett.
Another grandmother, Veronica Hendricks, said the children had looked forward to returning to school and were disappointed they had to go home early.
Jessica Shelver, spokeswoman for Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer, said the toilets were supposed to have been delivered on Friday.
Just before 4pm on Monday they had still not been delivered.
She said it was not clear why the supplier had not delivered the toilets. They were expected to be delivered on Tuesday morning.
The school had submitted a request for the replacement of 800m of fencing on February 19.
“The Department of Transport andPublic Works submitted a funding application to the directorate of infrastructure planning to the value of R2.2 million.”
Police spokesman Cape FC van Wyk said the case of arson was still under investigation and no arrests had been made.
Cape Argus