It was smooth start to the 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations, which commenced on Monday with English Paper 3, despite the inclement weather, including heavy rain predicted until Wednesday.
KwaZulu-Natal Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said it was a super start to the 2024 matric exams on Monday.
“The department checked with all 12 districts and there were no delays even with the rain,” he said.
South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) provincial secretary, Nomarashiya Caluza, stated she had checked seven regions, and all the exams started well.
“Roads to schools are still accessible, and we are just praying that the weather improves for the better so that the writing of exams will not be affected going forward,” she said.
Caluza mentioned that the union is also monitoring a community faction fight that has the potential to affect the writing of exams in one high school in the KwaNongoma area, where a pupil was stabbed and died at the school in August.
The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA (Naptosa) KZN CEO Thirona Moodley said the union had not heard of any delays regarding the delivery of exam papers due to the weather.
Commenting on the English Paper 3 home language, Moodley said: “We are happy to report that the feedback we received was that the paper was fair.”
National Teachers Union (Natu) president Sibusiso Malinga said the union had received reports that the exams started very well and that question papers were collected without any challenges.
“Even in rural schools across the country, all went well.”
South African Weather Service (Saws) forecaster Thandiwe Gumede said more rain was expected on Tuesday, with 80% rain predicted for KwaZulu-Natal. Gumede noted that there is a Yellow Level 4 warning for severe thunderstorms over most parts of the province.
“That being said, the thunderstorms may be accompanied by excessive lightning, large amounts of small hail, and heavy downpours that might lead to some flooding,” she said.
She explained that as we move into tomorrow, the conditions were expected to improve.
“We’re only expecting a 60% chance of some showers and thunderstorms over the north eastern part of the province on Wednesday, but mainly in the morning. For the remainder of the province, there is only a 30% chance of rain,” said Gumede.
Meanwhile, eThekwini Municipality reported that emergency services were assessing the impact that the inclement weather had on parts of the region on Monday.
The City indicated that so far, a few incidents were reported in Cato Crest and Clairwood due to the weather.
“In the Cato Crest area, around seven informal structures were affected, with three totally destroyed.
“This was a result of trees falling on the structures, which resulted in some injuries.”
The injured residents were taken to hospital for treatment, according to the City, and a team from Disaster Management was on site assessing the situation.
The City reported that around 50 structures in Clairwood were affected.
“No injuries or fatalities were regis ered, with only high water ingress reported. Disaster Management, together with a team from Water and Sanitation, are on site assessing the situation to determine the extent of the damage.”
The Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) team will continue to monitor forecasts, said the City. Both Msunduzi and Ugu District Municipality stated that they did not receive reports of damages due to the weather and that teams are on high alert.
The KZN Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) spokesperson, Senzo Mzila, said heavy rains that started on Sunday resulted in the flooding of several roads on Monday and disrupted traffic in several areas.
The Mercury