It’s back to school for City kids today.
And that includes pupils at Mitchells Plain’s Spine Road High School, which lost its roof due to wilde storms in Cape Town on Wednesday night.
However, schools in the Cape Winelands and Overberg education districts will remain closed today as the hectic weather continues, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) says.
After a meeting with Provincial Disaster Risk Management, the decision was made to continue the closure of schools in the Cape Winelands and Overberg districts, while schools in the other education districts were to reopen on Friday, said MEC David Maynier.
That meant that schools in the Cape Town metro districts, the West Coast Education District and the Eden and Central Karoo Education District would be open, unless the department head had granted approval to specific schools to remain closed, he said.
Maynier says: “This decision is based on the interests of learner and teacher safety in the Overberg and Cape Winelands Education Districts, particularly with regard to travelling to and from schools.
“Extensive rainfall has caused widespread damage to roads and flooding, affecting school transport routes. A number of schools have also reported flood damage to their premises.
“We have asked that schools in the Overberg and Cape Winelands Education Districts to inform their parents and caregivers of the continued closure tomorrow.
“These schools will reopen on Monday, 15 July 2024, unless communicated otherwise.”
Maynier said 217 schools across the province have reported some form of damage to infrastructure or disruption, with 86 cases regarded as serious.
He adds: “[Wednesday night’s] heavy rains and strong winds unfortunately contributed towards this figure - 86 cases are regarded as serious and require our attention.
“Our infrastructure teams are addressing these cases as fast as possible.”
Pictures of the damage at Spine Road High School shows a large part of the red painted roof was weggewaai.
Coreen Niemand from the Rocklands Neighbourhood Watch says new classrooms were extended recently at the back of the school and a part of the roof was damaged and blew away.
Yesterday, contractors were already busy fixing the roof.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond says the school will be open today despite the damaged roof.
Hammond confirms: “The school was in the process of upgrading their roof when the storms began, and has unfortunately been a victim of the strong winds and rainfall.