On Friday, 29 July 2022, Winile Secondary school pupils embarked on a march to address the issues they are faced with in their school.
Winile secondary school joined by Zonkizizwe secondary school, marched to Winile premises, to address the issue of sewage spillage and lack of infrastructure in the school.
Surprise Mkhabela, a student in Winile and a Cosas chairperson says they have sent numerous letters to the principal and the DOE and they have not been receiving any positive feedback.
“We have handed countless letters to the principal and the DOE and we are not receiving any assistance regarding this matter”, Mkhabela said.
“In May we were told to wait for 14 days, the chairs will be delivered but we are in the third term and we have seen nothing” added Mkhabela.
A memorandum of grievances was handed over and accepted by Rally Tsoari who is an IDSO and a school inspector. The memorandum addresses the issue of sewage, and the shortage of chairs, and tables.
Tsoari committed that he will hand over the memorandum to his superiors but cannot guarantee that they will respond within a two-day deadline given by the pupils.
“I will make sure that I hand over the memorandum to my superiors but it will be very hard to commit, as to how long my superiors will take to respond” stated Tsoari.
Pupils are afraid that this sewage not only poses a threat to their health but also their studies are affected because when it spills, they are forced to leave school early.
When Ekurhuleni News tried to get the principal’s response, he said: ” I will not say anything to you, if you have any questions, contact the spokesperson in the department”.
By Simphiwe Khumalo
