Infrastructure Update

The Construction of the new Emhlabeni bridge is under way and going well, due to the excessive summer rains there was a lot of erosion due to flooding causing the bridge to be unsafe. The bridge is very important to our students as it is their preferred route and gives easy access to the field and tennis courts.

Our new water filtration plant has been installed and commissioned, which is a huge relief as we now can trust our water to be safe year round. The results for our water testing have been excellent. We plan to have one more set of tests which will be done in April just to be sure of quality and consistency before announcing to the community that the water is safe to drink. The company that installed the plant SII has an O&M contract with us so can maintain the plant and guarantee safe potable water.

 The core Waterford team being Andy Foose, Jackie Otula and myself (Steve Mc Guire) are meeting with Mass Design bi-weekly to keep the momentum going and forge forward and make this dream a reality. The MASS design team will be coming down for a site visit at Waterford arriving with a team of 11 to experience UWC day and have workshops and activations across the Waterford community with key stakeholders to better understand our needs and wants and help them in the design phase. The MASS Design team will be upgrading the Waterford infrastructure across the board, from storm water and Electrical infrastructure to hostels, administration buildings and roads and pathways. Click the link below – MASS DESIGN.

The maintenance department is run by our maintenance manager Mr Mpendulo Simelane and his two supervisors Mr Stephen Mdluli and Mr Victor Shongwe who supervise the maintenance team.

As usual the maintenance department is very busy with scheduled maintenance as well as the day to day job cards that come in, which vary from changing a light bulb to complete renovations.

Security continues to be a constant challenge, we have not experienced any major theft issues but still have challenges at the gates managing visitors as well as students entering and exiting the campus. Waterford is a very busy place with people entering and exiting the property all day including evenings and weekends, constant vigilance is required by our security team, as well as very strong SOP’s, systems and policies to protect our community. Our security contract will go out to tender this year.

The security and wellbeing of our students and entire Waterford community is of utmost concern, we hope by bolstering our security protocols that we can protect our community better.

To ensure the safety and security of all members of the community, the following protocols have been implemented:

Visitor Access: All visitors, including parents, are strictly by prior appointment only. Hostel staff must be informed in advance of any scheduled visit.

Access Control at Gate: All individuals proceeding beyond the main gate will be required to sign in. Vehicles and bags are subject to inspection and search upon entry.

Visitor Authorization: Students are not permitted to sign visitor slips. All visitor authorizations must be completed and signed by an appropriate adult staff member.

Exit Clearance: No individual will be permitted to exit the campus without a properly signed authorization slip. Unsigned slips will result in denied exit until appropriately completed.

Student Searches: All students will be subject to bag and shopping inspections upon re-entry to campus.

Proposed installation of an X-ray machine at Gate 3 as well as metal detector (subject to approval).

Installation of surveillance cameras around the full campus perimeter, as well as in common areas and on nature trails.

A new guard house will be constructed on the perimeter of the south west side of the campus (Above the magic walk).

A new clear Vu  fence has been installed around our water purification plant and storage tanks. The perimeter fence that was damaged by the sewage pipe installation is being replaced.

We have also rolled out a firearm policy and register so that we are aware of any weapons that are kept on campus and to make sure that they are licensed and safely stored.

This year we will go out to tender for the security contract.

The Security infrastructure at Waterford is good, with security fencing around the entire property with a concrete base to stop digging under as well as it being anti-climbing with sharks teeth on the top. We have cameras at all entrances as well as along all perimeter fencing that borders the road and as mentioned will be installing cameras around the entire perimeter. We have generators in case of a power failure as well as solar lights all  over campus to make sure we can see in case there is no electricity. Our MP hall also doubles as a safe haven with steel shutter doors which the entire community can be safely closed in if the need arises. The siren system is in place to warn of a lock down, lightning or fire. The central management team has two way radios to communicate with in case of a situation where the network is down, with a crisis protocol.

We look forward to purchasing two new buses being a 60 and 40 seater this year, The two new buses will alleviate a lot of strain on the department this situation is putting a lot of strain on the department as we are having to constantly hire buses whenever we have school trips or if one of our buses needs to go in for a service or repairs.

We look forward to selling the Iveco as well as our oldest Hino, Procurement is in the process of having the two vehicles evaluated. As soon as we have the evaluations we will sell the vehicles through the tender board. This must be done before the end of term.

The other concern in terms of transport are the price increases in fuel as well as the concern of availability. We will watch this space closely and might have to cut all unnecessary transport until the end of term. Will make this decision if the necessity arises.

I am also holding weekly meetings with the transport department so that any issues arising can be dealt with quickly and efficiently.

The team is doing extremely well with a can-do attitude handling all situations with grace and patience, showing such care for our students and always having time for a joke or a quick chat.

From left to right,

Mr Gama (Supervisor) Mr Manyatsi, Mr Mavimbela, Mr Mbingo, Mr Masilela, Mr Mziyako

We have encountered some issues with the pinevalley route as there are no designated bus stops on that route which is causing traffic congestion when the buses stop, we have engaged the council in discussions to look forward to hopefully having designated bus stops in the future.

We have also spoken to the council about repairing the road up to Waterford as the condition is very bad.

By Mr Stephen Mc Guire

Eco Estate Manager