NO MORE masks are needed by pupils at Lowe Primary School in Ga-Rankuwa zone 16, north of Tshwane.
This after a blocked drain that had been discharging sewage was finally fixed.
According to parents and staff at the school, it’s all thanks to Daily Sun!
The school’s yard was covered with water from a blocked drain for almost two months.
This is despite Carol Seabi, the school’s acting principal, repeatedly reporting the problem to the local councillor, Jabu Rammushi.
Frustrated with the inaction, the school approached the People’s Paper and a story was published on Friday headlined “Bad smell’s the order of the day!”.
The story reported that sewage flowed through the school premises, forcing everyone to wear a mask for survival. It also described how the terrible stench hung in the air near the entrance to the school.
Seabi said at some point municipal workers came to the school but left without finishing the job, making everything worse. She said the councillor told her that the problem needed a bigger machine, which was being used by another department.
Daily Sun contacted Rammushi, who said that he had reported the problem to the infrastructure department in Akasia. He had promised to meet with the department to resolve the matter but nothing was done.
Last Wednesday pupils, joined by their parents, took to the streets demanding that the problem be immediately fixed. They barricaded the street leading to their school with burning tyres and stones, preventing teachers from entering.
The People’s Paper contacted Rammushi again and this time he arrived at the school, followed by municipal workers, and the drain was unblocked.
The school’s SGB member Salome Mabato (30) said: “We appreciate what Daily Sun has done for us.
“The school yard is dry and the bad smell has gone.”