Parents of pupils at a Mitchells Plain primary school staged a protest on Wednesday demanding protection for staff and learners, after news spread that an employee at the school had died of Covid-19.
The Western Cape Education Department on Wednesday confirmed that 239 staff members and 49 pupils have now been infected with the virus in the province.
Parents held placards outside Imperial Primary School in Eastridge, calling on pupils and staff not to enter the grounds on Wednesday morning.
Their posters read: “My kids are staying home, kom moer my” and “Stop killing our kids, it’s a sin”.
Protest outside Imperial Primary in Mitchells Plain. Video: Genevieve Serra
On Monday, an administration worker, who cannot be identified, died after being rushed to hospital, apparently with a heart attack.
A staff member, who cannot be identified, says they were notified that their colleague had died of the Coronavirus: “It was confirmed to us that it was Covid-19 and now we are told not to speak out, and say that it was just a heart attack.”
Kerry Mauchline, spokesperson for Education MEC Debbie Schäfer, confirmed a staffer had passed away, but says: “However, we cannot confirm the cause of death of any staff member, as this is a matter of private medical records and the purview of the Department of Health.”
The school sent out a letter to parents last month confirming they had Covid-19 cases.
Irma “Nanna” Craig, 48, who has grandchildren attending the school, says her daughter, 30, survived the Coronavirus two months ago and is calling on the school to close.
“My daughter had to quarantine for two weeks and it was like being to hell and back,” she says.
“The staff member who died was close to us.
“What guarantee is there that our children will be safe? We need to protect them.”
Protest outside Imperial Primary in Mitchells Plain. Video: Genevieve Serra
Mom Sumaya van Rooyen, 35, who has a child in Grade 5 at the school, says parents who want to keep their children at home were told they are not guaranteed a spot next year.
“We do not have WiFi or data to do home-schooling,” she says.
“The people who are making these rules do not live in our community.
“I am not sending my child back to school, then they want to say they will de-register our children (if we keep them home).”
BAD: Aisha Geldenhuys
Aisha Geldenhuys says she cannot afford the medical tests to prove her child has asthma: “My child has a bad chest. I was told to get a medical report to keep my child at home, but I do not have R600 for that.”
Mauchline says although the numbers have risen in the Western Cape, not all infections at schools.
“The majority of affected schools have only reported a single case - suggesting that we are not seeing a general spread of the virus at schools,” she says.