Villagers in Malibeng area under Ward 9 in Beitbridge West are raising funds to repair the roofs of a classroom block and a teacher’s cottage at the local primary school that were blown off during heavy rains recently.
The damage has forced children from two classes to share one room and also worsened the accommodation shortages for the teaching staff. Malibeng Primary School has 196 pupils drawn from Headman Mahopolo area.
“The roof for one classroom block and one teacher’s house were blown off by a storm last week,” said the School Development Committee Chairman Mr Musa Dube.
“So, we then sat down as stakeholders and decided to mobilise resources to fix the damaged roof. We have asked every homestead, regardless of the fact that they have enrolled children at the school to contribute R200 so that we may procure new roofing material. The money is being collected by the local village heads”.
Mr Dube said although they had mobilised the money in the interim, they were hoping to get more support from other development agencies.
He said they had realised that some of the infrastructure at the school was aging, hence they will need to procure new material to minimise future damage.
Senior community leader in the area Mr Thando Ndlovu said no one was injured during the incident since it was a few days before schools opening.
“We have taken it upon ourselves to be proactive and we are looking forward to more support. So the money is trickling in from all the seven villages heads with scores of homesteads,” said.
Ms Lehlohonolo Nare said everyone in the area had shown commitment and the long term plan was to contribute towards the construction of more classroom blocks and houses for the teaching staff.
The school has six teaching staff and a headmaster but currently they have four permanent workers who are being assisted by four other who were hired by the community.
Beitbridge West Legislator Cde Ruth Maboyi Ncube, who is also the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, visited the area to assess the damage on Monday.
“We had a very unfortunate incident in this area and we have noted that this community is proactive. While they wait for help to come they have a plan on how to address the children’s immediate needs,” said Cde Maboyi.
“I, therefore, encourage the Civil Protection Committee and other stakeholders, especially luminaries from this area to assist the villagers to rebuild the school”.
She said there was a strong need for people to collaborate and find solutions at the grassroots to some of the challenges within communities.
Cde Maboyi had noted some operational challenges at the school, which she will take to the relevant authorities for further action.
Another villager, Mrs Petty Moyo said they decided to swiftly repair the roof so that they make the school child friendly and to minimise overcrowding in the fewer remaining classes.
“We are doing our best to minimise the effects of the state of affairs on our children. So, everyone is contributing in cash and in kind and labour to repair the roofs,” she said – The Herald
