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Lucky survivor: Thendo Khorommbi.

Girl (5) falls into toilet

 

The Limpopo toilet saga last week returned to haunt one of the schools in Vhembe.

Earlier this year, Michael Komape, a Grade R pupil from Chebeng, fell into a school pit toilet. The six-year-old boy died as a result and the Department of Education promised a speedy intervention in the toilet issue at schools.

Last week, another Grade R child fell into a pit toilet. This time it was at Tshikhudini Primary School outside Thohoyandou in Limpopo. Fortunately, the little girl survived the incident.

The incident happened last Monday and was not made public, but gossip has been going around the village. Even the school governing body (SGB) was shocked to learn from the media about the incident. This paper visited the school on Friday, only to find teachers preparing to go home after school. We could not get any comment from the deputy principal, as the principal was not at the school. The deputy principal denied any knowledge about the incident. 

On Saturday, this paper visited the family of the girl, but they were away in town. We again visited the school on Sunday, where construction workers were busy rebuilding old toilets while it was raining. On Monday, again, the principal was not at the school when this paper visited the school. 

Limpopo Mirror was able to locate little Thendo Khorommbi (5) on Sunday. She narrated her ordeal and said she went to the toilet on the day of the incident. "I was in the company of my friend, Fulufhelo, and when she finished, she left me there. While seated on the toilet, I felt a movement and panicked and fell into the pit. Fortunately, I did not go down and I managed to shout at the top of my voice, calling for help.”

A boy heard her desperate calls and rescued her, and some of the teachers arrived and washed her at a nearby tap. "I was very scared and shocked. They changed my clothing and I went home with my friends," said Thendo.

She said that others were teasing her at school that she had fallen into the toilet.

Thendo’s father said he had heard from neighbours about the incident and rushed to the school, where he found the teachers preparing to leave. "They told me of what had happened and told me that they would take the child to the clinic the following day. I was not comfortable with the arrangement as I regarded the incident as an emergency.”

He said he took the girl to the local clinic, where she was treated and given medication. “We were told that she was safe and had fortunately not inhaled anything from the toilet pit," he said.

Khorommbi said he was worried about the safety of pupils at the school. "If the toilets are no longer in use, they should demolish them.  If they are still in use, they should be kept closed and the little kids should be under supervision when they go to the toilet. The safety of our children is at stake and we are just happy that there was someone not far from the toilet, otherwise we would be talking of the worst now," he said.

The school's SGB chairperson, Justice Mphaphuli, was shocked when asked to comment on the incident. "Which incident are you talking about? We know nothing about such an incident…”

The spokesperson for the Department of Education, Mr Paene Galane, said they were surprised about the incident as the school has proper infrastructure. “We are shocked to learn that some of the toilets were opened at the back. We want answers from the SGB and want to know why it was not reported to the department. Surely there must have been negligence on the part of the school administration,” he said.

Some of the toilets which are dangerous to the pupils. Their lids have been removed.

The toilet that Thendo fell into but survived.

The father of the girl, Tshifhiwa Khorommbi, calls for safety at schools. 

 

Date:21 November 2014

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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