Fifteen Emfuleni LM schools benefit 20 water tanks from DWS rollout
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has rolled out an additional 20 water tanks to fifteen water-stressed schools in Emfuleni Local Municipality in a bid make them comply with stringent safety regulations as infections of the coronavirus continue to rise.
This brings the number of water tanks already distributed to 60 after 40 others were distributed to 11 schools in the City of Tshwane.
With a capacity of 5 000 litres, the 20 water tanks rolled out in Emfuleni LM were distributed amongst the fifteen schools according to their needs.
Before the supply of water tanks to schools, the Department has been providing these much-needed water facilities to densely-populated and needy communities in response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call to ensure the poor were not severely impacted by the virus.
DWS’s Gauteng Provincial Head, Mr Sibusiso Mthembu, said the distribution of water tanks to schools was perceived as a priority area that needed a focussed attention as these schools do not exist in isolation but in communities where water challenges are a reality.
Mthembu said there was a need be swift with the provisions of water tanks to schools to make sure that all the needy schools across the length and breadth of Gauteng were provided with water, and were shielded from the continuing to rise in infections.
He said as the numbers of infections were persisting to increase, the Department’s positive response to the demand to provide schools with adequate and clean water was crucial because learning should continue without any hindrance.
“Access to water by learners and all staff members is as important as wearing a mask and social distancing during this uncertain time. So, there should be no school that has shortages of water. Our obligation as government and the Department is to see to it that learners are not affected and are able to continue to learn,” Mthembu said.
He said the water tanks required to be filled with water on a regular basis so that at no stage should learners experience shortages, adding that this was a critical time for learners to fully concentrate on their studies after losing out for two months.
“This is not a time for learners to be worried about the threat of shutting the schools again. Ours is to create learning conditions that will be sufficient for proper learning to take place and we must do all we can to adapt to the new normal,” he said.
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