Desperate times as school kitchen moves closer to toilets

Lack of adequate infrastructure has forced Patrick Moloto Primary School in Mabopane, Tshwane, to turn a toilet building into a kitchen to feed more than 800 children.

The kitchen, where nutritious meals are prepared, is about 5m from the main toilet building, which has eight cubicles. These toilets are used by more than 1,000 children.

School governing body representative, Tshepo Pilusa, said: “Our sisters who prepare food take time because they have to take turns cooking.

“We therefore ask for a good Samaritan to build us a kitchen.”

He said even though the school has mobile toilets, they decided to close them to control pupils’ movements. The school has about 1,300 pupils .Only four blocks of classrooms are built with bricks, the rest are asbestos structures.

The school has no staffroom while the principal and the admin office are stuffed in one container with printers and file shelves, taking up half the space. The school has a swimming pool that is closed.

“We don’t have swimming instructors or lifeguards, so it is difficult for the school to open the swimming pool because we don’t want to risk the lives of pupils. The motive behind the pool is that we want to compete with the schools in town and across the country to prove that townships have potential.

”Some pupils need school uniforms.

“This is a very serious issue. We try to get donations but we are failing to cover all kids because about 40% of our learners come from disadvantaged homes where they cannot afford to buy uniforms,” Pilusa said.

To assist the school with any of its needs please contact Pilusa on (012) 702-4718 or email patmolotopschool@gmail.com