Teaching and learning for the 2024 academic year have been delayed at Amandlalathi Primary School in Dududu on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. All five low-laying bridges connected to the school were washed away during the recent floods that wreaked havoc across the province.
Teachers are forced to park their cars at a nearby homestead and cross the river on foot.
Community member Sizwe Ngcongo says since the river has now subsided, some parents are accompanying their children so they can cross the river safely.
“If we want to go to town, this is the only bridge we can use in this area for us to cross over and get to the other side, where we can get transport. There are about five low-laying bridges in the area of Dududu that have been washed away. Children from different parts of this area who come to this school are all affected. Parents are forced to accompany the small children so they can cross safely; the older kids can cross by themselves. But they don’t wear school shoes; they wear flip-flops. Even in our community, we wear flip-flops because we are forced to go through the water to get to the other side.”
