Dunoon Primary School faces vandalism and neglect
Peter Luhanga
- More than 45 windows smashed and stolen at Dunoon Primary.
- Children have to use stinking toilets that don’t flush.
- Parents demand local security guards.
A R40 million school in Dunoon, built under the Department of Basic Education’s Accelerated School Infrastructure Development Initiative (ASIDI), has become the latest symbol of public sector neglect.
More than 45 school windows were smashed and the aluminium window panes stolen during the school holiday. As a result, on the first day of term angry parents confronted the principal about the vandalism, and poor sanitation at the school.
Parents, members of the school governing body, teachers, and the principal gathered in the school hall for a tense meeting on 22 July.
A police van with three uniformed officers was stationed at the premises during the gathering. Many parents accused the principal of failing to secure the building over the winter holidays, despite ongoing threats of vandalism in the area.
There were calls for the principal’s immediate dismissal and urgent demands for security guards from within the community to be appointed to safeguard the school around the clock.
The school, completed in 2015 as one of 25 ASIDI projects in the province, was meant to redress educational inequality by bringing modern infrastructure to under-resourced communities.
But what parents encountered last week was a facility in disrepair.
Inside the school’s male and female toilets, a foul stench lingered, seeping into nearby classrooms. In the ablution section at the rear of the girls’ toilets, water flowed continuously from a broken pipe.
Parents described the sanitation facilities as unusable and raised concerns that the unhygienic conditions could expose children to health risks.
While water was available on site, the pressure was so low that toilets could not flush, a problem the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) attributes to illegal connections within the surrounding community to the municipal water supply.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the school had been offered a subsidy for security over the holidays.
But Hammond said the vandalism was only reported to the police on the day the school term started.
“There have been no reports of incidents to Safe Schools this year until now. Over 47 aluminium windows of the school were vandalised and the window panes stolen. We sincerely hope that the perpetrators are apprehended. The WCED has requested more information on this to address the matter.” she said.
She said a work inspector had been deployed to assess the state of the school’s infrastructure, including the dysfunctional booster pump installed to support water pressure.
“Ultimately, the community connections are the main source of the problem,” she said.
School governing body chairperson Sizeka Nyulu said parents had raised a litany of concerns, including the complete absence of security guards, deteriorating sanitation, and frustration with the school’s feeding scheme. They alleged that those appointed to prepare meals and clean the premises remained unchanged for extended periods, denying others in the community a chance to earn an income through these publicly funded opportunities.
Nyulu said parents demand a more transparent and rotational system to broaden access to such roles.
Parents, Nyulu said, questioned why Dunoon Primary had not adopted measures used by other schools in the township to raise funds, such as renting out its enclosed yard to local residents as paid parking space, or hiring out the school hall for community events. They argued that revenue generated from such initiatives could be used to employ security guards, thereby addressing the longstanding concerns around safety on the premises.
She said that last year, acts of vandalism were also reported and the principal had opened a case with the police. When parents asked for an update during the meeting, he acknowledged that he had not followed up, fuelling more outrage from the parents.
“Parents are very angry with us, the school governing body. They believe we have been influenced by the school principal,” she said.