School food handlers

26-08-2020
Palmsprings in the Vaal
Rapule Moiloa

I interviewed a woman who is a “school food handler”

School food handlers have been in the front line since Covid 19 Cases and lock down and when schools opened and closed.

“My name is Dikeledi and my work at the school is cooking for learners at a higher primary school in Palmsprings.

Myself and other who ladies who are parents as well with kids in the same school, like everyone working there are problems experienced at work, the problem is the environment we in the kitchen does not have a sink where we can wash used dishes and we must go out to use the outside taps and the kitchen walls are dirty although we have escalated the problem with the sgb but still no answer.

We use gas stove to boil water and to prepare food for the learners and we are given one uniform that needs to be washed, another problem is how parents organize their kids when coming to school.

Learners are send to school with dirty lunch boxes for food, as parents we must not take care only of our kids but other kids.

We wash their lunch boxes so that we can dish up for them in a clean container because we must put aside a portion of the days meal so that the food can be tested for food poisoning.

Cooking for learners and having to protect ourselves from the pandemic its a challenge for we don’t have enough people’s so these is a risk for us and the children and I think women rights are undermined”