Zuko Komisa
Severe weather leads to the closure of Cape Town schools.
The province’s heavy downpours forced the closure of numerous schools. 137 schools have reported infrastructural damage in the last three days, attributed to either water or strong winds. 49 instances require immediate attention, whereas the majority of cases are minor.
The province declared that today is a closed school day for the West Coast district, the Cape Winelands, Overberg, and Cape Town metro districts. The MEC states that until permission to close is obtained, all other schools in the remaining districts will remain open.
“In the interests of learner and teacher safety, and after extensive consultation with the Provincial Disaster Risk Management Centre and the South African Weather Service (SAWS), a decision has been taken to close schools in certain districts in the Western Cape [on Thursday], Our default position is always to keep schools open but are mindful of the severity of the warnings in place and the damage already caused in certain areas.
“So far, 20 schools have been granted permission for closure across the province, the majority of which are in the Cape Winelands district,”
Western Cape MEC for Education, David Maynier,
Meanwhile, the SAWS has issued a Level 8 warning for disruptive rain. This warning for severe rain, flooding, and mudslides is still in effect, especially for the areas of Drakenstein, Stellenbosch, and the Cape Town metro area.
