MCONJWANA KEEPS SHINING
Residents in Valley View Road, Howick West, are at the end of their tethers with whoonga addicts, who for more than two years, have been digging up and stealing steel stormwater pipes from a deep and dangerous culvert just off the main road. Not only that, the hole has become their hiding spot, posing dangers to pedestrians in the area who fear being robbed and attacked.
Homeowner Imraam Sayed, whose property borders the stormwater drainage ditch, said he has reported the issue numerous times to SAPS as well as uMngeni Municipality, without much response.
“Whenever I hear banging at night, I just know these whoonga guys have started digging out the pipe,” he said. Apart from the continuous thefts, he added, the deep ditch posed a danger to motorists driving down the little road. “Already three cars have fallen into the hole and had to be towed out.” Added to that, when there are heavy rains, dirty nappies are washed down the ditch and collect in huge numbers.
On Monday, Village Talk went to the scene, where yet another 30m or so of the pipe had already been dug out, ready for removal. Sayed said he called the police on Friday when the thieves stole another section of the piping. “I had to fire several gunshots into the air before they ran away,” he said. SAPS confiscated the piping for evidence, and it is now at Howick police station.
On Monday, the same crew of thieves came back to dig up more of the pipe, with Sayed trying desperately to contact both police and the municipality, without success. Minutes after Village Talk contacted uMngeni Municipality and the SAPS, officials from both departments arrived. While they were inspecting the ditch and the piping, the whoonga thieves nonchalantly walked past, en route to the shop from their shacks at the nearby Mathandubisi informal settlement.
“The solution would be for the technical department to remove the steel piping and replace it with concrete piping,” said Sayed. “I don’t know why that seems so difficult for them.”
Thando Mgaga, communications manager for uMngeni Municipality, who had immediately driven to the scene with the technical department representative to inspect it when Village Talk called him, said on Tuesday: “The roads and stormwater unit has assessed the challenge at Valley View Road and is finalising plans to replace the pipes with concrete pipes. The first phase is expected to start next week. The municipality is treating the matter as urgent.”
There is no doubt the class of 2020 had more challenges than any other year, thanks to the outbreak of Covid19. Schools had to introduce all-new alternative learning methods, including online learning, which was a huge challenge to schools in the rural areas.
Despite these obstacles, Mconjwana High School in Kwa-Hhaza managed to produce a 100% pass rate, a whopping increase from the 92.6% for the class of 2019. The quintile two school not only obtained an amazing pass rate but also took fourth position in schools around the province that obtained a 100% pass rate. This was based on the number of learners who wrote their matric and passed: 170 children wrote the examinations at Mconjwana High School.
The two top achievers Thandeka Ndlela and Senamile Ndlovu, both scooped seven distinctions.
Ndlela, from Howick West, said she was not expecting such good results and was very proud of herself. “I used to watch videos of past top achievers and be inspired,” she said. “When I was in grade 11, I changed my mentality and worked really hard towards achieving these results and making my family and school proud.”
Ndlela added that she was hoping to attend the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg where she had been accepted for a Bachelor of Accounting Science, to become a chartered accountant.
Senamile Ndlovu from Mafakatini was also ecstatic about her results. “I worked really hard and I advise students to stay focus, be determined and work hard,” she said.
She plans to study a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting at the University of Cape Town.
The girls said they had not yet received any response from NSFAS or news about any bursaries. “It would take a huge load off our shoulders if we could get bursaries so we could know where we stand,” said Ndlela.
School principal Sthembile Ngwane told Village Talk that at their prizegiving last year, students were told that Covid-19 or not, they needed the 100% pass rate for the school.
“Our teachers worked really hard in ensuring that the children kept learning, despite covid-19 restrictions,” she said. “We were so happy with our results. Even though some of the learners tested positive for covid-19, we were never discouraged but gave them all the support they needed.” She added that the school last had a 100% pass rate in 2006.
“We are very proud of our school for topping all of the disadvantaged schools in the province,” she said.