JOHANNESBURG - Pupils at Reiger Park Secondary School in Gauteng are reportedly being forced to endure shocking conditions just to get through the school day.
With more than 2,000 pupils and only a handful of functioning toilets, the school is also allegedly without access to drinking water.
The situation has become so desperate that pupils are reportedly turning to fire hydrants to quench their thirst.
READ | Water woes, broken toilets plague Reiger Park school
This is according to a source who asked not to be identified.
"They're really desperate for water...They can't get water from the toilets because they're quite disgusting... The cleaners are refusing to clean, and we've had this problem for a while now," the source told eNCA.
Continuing to paint a grim picture of the situation, the source said they often have to wait for a long time to use the bathroom given the limited number of toilets available.
The situation is reportedly worse during break time.
"The only taps that are running are the ones in the staff room and we can't get water from those taps and when we try to get water from those taps, they tell us to go to the taps in the bathrooms," he said.
School Governing Body (SGB) claims it was not aware of the extent of the conditions faced by pupils.
Chairperson Charona Louw said the matter has now been escalated to the district office.
"We know as the SGB we have been fixing toilets almost every month. Things are being broken by the same learners that are vandalising the taps, the toilets, so that is what's happening at the moment. Look, we are a SUB that's very hands-on and when we hear about something we fix immediately and that is one of the reasons that I immediately took it to the district," she said.