Unpurified water blamed as Eastern Cape pupils fall ill, seek medical treatment

Thirty-seven pupils at Byletts Combined High School in Mooiplaas were rushed to Frere Hospital and Empilweni Clinic in East London on Monday morning, suffering from cramps and diarrhoea.

The school, which caters for  665 pupils from grades 8 to 12, has experienced severe water shortages since March last year. Parents and teachers believe the water situation gave rise to unhygienic learning conditions.

The school, which has a boarding school attached, needs 30,000l of water a day to operate optimally.

When DispatchLIVE arrived at the school on Monday, boarding house matron Zoe Ntozakhe had her hands full speaking to parents and leading some pupils back to their rooms to rest.  

Pupils in the school's communal areas were crouched down holding their stomachs in pain.

“Children were up as early as 3am [Monday] with stomach cramps and runny tummies. We had to call in six ambulances to come and fetch the pupils while some were fetched by their parents to be taken to clinics and hospitals for treatment,” Ntozakhe said.

“The living conditions at the school have become unhygienic and the water we do receive, as relief from Amatola Water, is dirty and not suitable for human consumption.”

She said the children were becoming ill because some of water had not been not purified.

“We don't know where the relief water comes from. Pupils and teachers relieve themselves on the premises as there are no working toilets, which could be a possible factor as to why children are falling sick. As hostel supervisors we have been up and down since the early hours, phoning parents and other relatives,” said Ntozakhe.

Female pupils at the school were more susceptible to infections, she said.  

Grade 12 pupil Unathi Qavile said the water situation affected learning.

“Pupils can't concentrate in class, especially when it's hot because some are dizzy and some have runny tummies. We can't even use the school toilets and have to relieve ourselves in the nearby bushes.

“I had to go home this weekend because I had stomach cramps but usually matrics don't go home during the term because of the demanding curriculum,” she said.

When contacted last week about the school’s water shortage, department of education spokesperson Loyiso Pulumani said: “Amatola Water has supplied water to Byletts; there is no longer a challenge with water.

“Byletts had also been challenged with water supply as a result of the extreme drought that negatively affected most of the province. The drought has been an issue there; it's been festering for a very long time. As such, the department has had to enter into a contract with service providers to ferry water tanks to the school to service their requirements.” 

Attempts to get comment from Pulumani about Monday's developments at the school were unsuccessful by print deadline.

Health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo had not responded to queries by deadline.

gugup@dispatch.co.za