25 August 2026
Sewage has pooled outside the classrooms at Kuyasa Primary School in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Photo: Vincent Lali
Khayelitsha parents have kept Kuyasa Primary School shut since Friday, demanding the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) fix drains which are overflowing, leaving a pool of filthy water in the school yard.
When GroundUp visited the school on Monday, teachers were sitting in their cars while learners were absent. A green sewage spill covered the ground near grade R classrooms and the stench was overpowering.
Parents met on Friday and resolved to close the school as they feared for their children’s health, said Thandiswa Bolani, deputy chairperson of the School Governing Body.
Bolani said teachers and parents removed 230 learners from classrooms located near the sewage spill.
Aphelele Magquba, whose children are in grades 1, 3 and 7, said her daughter no longer wanted to go to school. “She came home smelly the other day and said other kids pushed her into overflowing sewage while they were playing,” she said.
“My kid now bunks school because she hates the school environment.”
“It’s painful to work here because the stench is suffocating,” said one teacher who did not want to be named.
Bolani said parents first closed the school a year ago because of the sewage spill. District officials said at the time they were only responsible for the curriculum but would report the problem to the head office, she said.
“Officials from WCED’s infrastructure officials came to investigate the issue and merely took photos before they left.”
Bronagh Hammond, spokesperson for the WCED, told GroundUp on Tuesday that a previous leak outside the school had been fixed by the City of Cape Town. This was a new leak, she said, and the department had arranged emergency measures including cleaning and sanitisation. The school was expected to operate normally from Wednesday.
Once the clean-up had been completed the cause of the latest spill would be investigated.
“We appeal to the community to allow the necessary technical assessments and remedial work to be completed, while avoiding unnecessary disruptions at the school. We remind the public that it is an offence to unlawfully and intentionally interrupt, disrupt, or hinder the official educational activities of a school.”
“The WCED’s priority remains the wellbeing of learners and staff, as well as the continuation of teaching and learning.”
