KZN schools asked to consider pupil and staff safety amid heavy rain

The KwaZulu-Natal education department has urged schools not to risk the safety of pupils and staff as heavy rain continues to batter the province on Wednesday.

The South African Weather Service (Saws) forecast a cold front which will bring rain and possibly snow.

The department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) issued a level 5 warning for significant rainfall accumulation in the iLembe district on the north coast, eThekwini, Umgungundlovu and the south coast regions of Harry Gwala and Ugu.

A level 4 warning remains in place for the Harry Gwala, Umgungundlovu, iLembe, uMzinyathi, King Cetshwayo, Amajuba and uThukela districts.

The department warned the heavy rain posed a risk to infrastructure such as roads, bridges and housing settlements, essential services such as water and electricity and risk to life because of flooding.

These conditions prompted the education department to remind school principals to follow guidelines which deal with school management in the event of storms and flooding. The guidelines prescribe:

• principals must communicate with parents to ensure they take precautions before sending their children to school in the morning;
• should the situation be completely unfavourable, the principal must take responsibility to advise parents to keep their children at home;
• if pupils are already at school, principals must observe the severity of the rainfall and decide to keep pupils in school for their safety or release them before the situation worsens;
• any damage to school infrastructure or roads leading to schools which affect pupils and teachers must be reported immediately to the department; and
• other responsible managers must advise staff on the possible safety precautions based on updated weather reports.

Head of department Nkosinathi Ngcobo said there had been no formal reports of damage to schools yet but previous experience shows persistent rain usually affects schools, especially in low-lying areas.

The department remained cautious in light of the predicted rain.

“Any damage to road infrastructure may render learners and educators unable to make their way to schools. This includes delivery of food items necessary for the feeding of learners,” he said.

School principals should develop curriculum catch-up plans for pupils and ensure they are occupied whether at home or in school, he said.

He urged office-based employees to ensure it is safe to leave home before going to work or remain in departmental buildings until it is safe to leave if the weather worsens when they are already there.

“The department cannot afford to lose any lives due to flooding of bridges and destruction of offices or classrooms.”

Cogta MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi confirmed disaster management teams were on alert and monitoring weather conditions.

TimesLIVE