Almost 400 schools in the Western Cape will remain closed following severe weather conditions in the province since Saturday. The Department of Basic Education in the province says they have already received reports of damage at 132 schools, ranging from minor to serious and that the number is likely to rise when staff returns to school properties in the coming days.

SOME SCHOOLS TO REMAIN CLOSED 

Spokesperson for the department Kerry Mauchline said schools in the Cape Winelands and Overberg education districts will remain closed tomorrow. According to Maucheline, the decision was made based on updated weather predictions from the South African Weather Service which indicated a continued risk in the Cape Winelands and Overberg areas. "So, out of an abundance of caution, we have extended the closure to a second day for these two districts only. The second day of closure will only apply to the 281 schools in the Cape Winelands education district, and the 84 schools in the Overberg education district. Schools in the Helderberg area of Metro East Education District, will open on Tuesday, 9 April 2024," she said, adding that today's closure affected 406 schools, and nearly 270 000 learners. "Our learner transport routes in these areas were also not operational, affecting 392 routes that ordinarily transport over 20 000 learners to school each day. Our contractors were already on site at some of the schools as early as Sunday afternoon, to prevent further damage from wind and rain," Maucheline added.

POWER OUTAGES

Premier Alan Winde said that the decision to close schools was informed by incidents such as roofs on buildings being blown off and falling trees which pose a risk to pupils. "You will remember when a decision like this was taken way back when we had those major fires across the Garden Route and those high winds when we saw school roofs coming off."

Several towns have reported power outages since Saturday. He said he is deeply concerned by the effect that the wind has had on electricity infrastructure. "We saw the collapse of pylons in the Central Karoo in February which according to Eskom, was as a result of high winds, and I remain concerned about the possible effect that the wind may still have," said Winde. Winde said the disaster management services would remain on high alert in the case of any major incidents that may occur. Winde also said high-risk areas include the Overberg region, Cape Winelands, and Helderberg.