Byline: Andani Matumba
26 April 2022
During rainy seasons learning has become a luxury for learners at Emdibini Combined School situated on a farm just 2km out of Kinross as the gravel road from the R547 (Grootpan Road) to the school turns into slippery mushy mud.
The school has approximately 402 learners who stay in nearby farms.
From last year, evertime it rains learners and teachers become adversely affected as their classes get cancelled, because their transportation including scholar transport could not be propelled through the undrivable section of the road.
According to an informant at the school who cannot be named due to the protocol procedures of the Department of Education on making comments to the media, this is not the first time the school encounters such a challenge.
“At one occasion, a bus attempted to get in further into the muddy road but the ground was so slippery that it almost drove into a swamp with learners who were being conveyed to school.
We were so frightened for their lives because there is a small river on the side of the bridge were the incident occurred.
“Now we felt it was best to turn back the learners because we cannot risk their lives,” she said with grief for the learners who are losing their learning time in the classroom.
It is alleged that the principal has attempted writing to the Mpumalanga Department of Education through the Standerton offices even to the head office in Nelspruit but to no avail to their plea of fixing the road.