A Khayelitsha primary school that has been operating without electricity for a month, allegedly due to illegal connections from a neighbouring informal settlement, will have to wait for relief as Eskom said it would communicate once a solution has been finalised.
Nomsa Mapongwana Primary School teachers and parents marched to the Eskom office in Khayelitsha this week, saying their calls for assistance have been ignored.
Parents have also raised concerns that the children have to study in the dark and have had to give up computer classes. The school has given Eskom seven days to respond to its memorandum of demand.
School governing body chairperson Zizipho Kibido said the electricity issue was affecting teaching and learning.
“Our electricity box has also been vandalised on numerous occasions; we want the box to be inside the school premises. This electricity issue has been ongoing and we have been trying different ways to resolve it because it is affecting teaching and learning at our school. The classes are dark and cold,” Kibido said.
Ward 97 councillor Mthwalo Mkutswana said: “We have engaged on this issue before, I had meetings with the school about the illegal connections affecting electricity supply at the school. We did engage Eskom as well, but the people who are responsible for these illegal connections have not stopped. This has had devastating impacts on the school.”
Eskom spokesperson Kyle Cookson said they were aware of the continuous electricity supply problems affecting the school.
“Eskom has engaged with the school's leadership to talk about the impact of illegal connections and vandalism of infrastructure, and has proposed a solution by moving the existing electrical infrastructure on to the school's premises.
“These details and timelines of the moving of equipment will be communicated once the plans have been finalised. Eskom is committed to providing a sustainable electricity supply for the country's future leaders,” he said.
Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said they were aware of the matter.
“The situation at the school is discouraging. I can confirm that they have been without electricity for the past four weeks. This is due to illegal connections from the neighbouring informal settlement.
“It has been an ongoing battle with regards to their electricity supply for the past two years. The school took action and installed a solar system –but the cost of replacing these batteries at R15 000 each is too costly for the school.
“There have been repeated attempts to resolve the issue with Eskom.
“Recently parents of the school marched to Eskom to hand over a memorandum. Eskom did come to the school (on Wednesday) to address the issue, and is looking at installing an electricity box inside the school premises. However, the time frames for such instalment are unlikely to be in the next week, and could take some time,” she said.
Cape Times