Spotlight on school safety after attack
|Published
Durban — Teacher unions have again raised the issue of safety and security in schools following the attack of uMlazi district inspector, Shakeel Isseri.
He was at Mzwamandla High School in uMlazi’s M-section, south of Durban, to monitor the matric exams when he was accosted by six armed men on Monday.
According to the witnesses, the men and young boys had guns, knives and pangas.
Attempts to get comments from Isseri were unsuccessful.
The unions accused the government of treating the department as a stepchild. They argued that all other departments, including clinics, had security guards yet schools, where resources were worth more than those at clinics, were not guarded.
The Educators Union of South Africa president Sicelo Bhengu said it was strange that it was the same department which prevented teachers from bringing their licensed guns at schools to protect themselves and kids.
The National Teachers Union’s president Sibusiso Malinga said the fact that offices where the MEC and other top officials worked had proper security was clear proof that the lives of the teachers and kids did not matter.
The National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA (Naptosa) said it had always raised school safety concerns.
The provincial executive director Thirona Moodley said teachers and pupils had been vulnerable to criminals due to no fences or adequate security at schools.
“When will the department take action and save our schools? Naptosa is not only concerned about the harm to people but the loss of much-needed resources through burglary.”
The South African Democratic Teachers Union provincial secretary Nomarashiya Caluza said this was one of many incidents that teachers had been dealing with since the beginning of the year. It called on the communities to protect schools.
In a statement, the department condemned the incident, calling it a distasteful act by a group of hooligans who unlawfully occupied the school and brutally assaulted an official of the department who was monitoring exams.
The department said the trespassers gained access to the school using an unauthorised entry and hid behind a block of classes. They then sneaked up on Isseri who was on his way out of the school.
They assaulted him allegedly at gunpoint, causing him severe injuries and trauma. He was taken to a nearby clinic.
“I am saddened by this incident and I wish Mr Isseri a speedy recovery. The department strives to safeguard its schools against unlawfulness and crime, yet criminals persist to deter our efforts. The law must take its course and perpetrators must be called to book. I am confident that law enforcement agencies will get to the bottom of the matter,” concluded the statement.
Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said uMlazi police were investigating a case of attempted robbery and malicious damage to property following the incident.
“It is alleged that six unknown suspects approached the victim by the corridor with their faces covered. Two pointed a firearm at him and demanded his phone, one suspect assaulted him on his head with a stone. Reports indicate that the victim sustained an open wound on the head,” said Netshiunda.
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