Violence is increasingly spilling into South African schools, turning once-safe learning spaces into scenes of chaos.
Last week, a Gauteng school principal was stabbed while trying to break up a fight between learners from West Ridge High and Hoërskool Roodepoort.
In Klerksdorp, North West, several pupils from Hoër Tegniese Skool were suspended two days ago after a viral video showed them attacking a teacher, throwing objects and drenching him with a bucket of water.
Statistics highlight a worrying reality: 74 rapes were recorded in schools between October and December 2024, alongside 290 incidents reported in 2023. These figures underscore the urgent need for proactive measures, such as the National School Safety Framework (NSSF), which all state schools are required to implement to ensure safe learning environments.
In a more recent incident, a 14-year-old was arrested last Friday for stabbing a fellow pupil, leaving the knife embedded in the victim’s neck. KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed that Verulam police apprehended the pupil in connection with the attempted murder of a 17-year-old. In 2023, a Grade 10 learner from Geluksdal Secondary School, Gauteng, was fatally stabbed, reportedly over a feud that began at school earlier in the day.
Studies show four common types of school violence in South Africa: physical assaults like stabbings and shootings; bullying and verbal abuse, including taunts, ridicule, and harassment; sexual abuse and exploitation, sometimes involving teacher-learner relationships; and gang violence, often tied to organised groups or territorial conflicts within or near schools.
Earlier this year, several political parties, along with the Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, proposed measures to address school violence. Gwarube partnered with the Minister of Police to sign a Safe Schools Implementation Protocol between the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Department of Basic Education.
“Our schools, which should be safe spaces for hope and learning, are too often sites of danger, trauma and violence,” Gwarube said.
She added that SAPS data paints a grim picture: in the 2023/24 financial year, 28 rapes and 234 murders occurred in primary schools, with two-thirds involving learner-to-learner assaults.
However, Nompumelelo Gasa (uMkhonto WeSizwe Party) recently lashed out at the minister, saying that Gwarube had no right to talk about children’s safety when she is the very reason why children are unsafe.
“Under her watch,” she said, “our schools have become war zones of hunger, violence and hopelessness.”
Mandla Shikwambana (EFF) earler this year attributed school violence to external factors, saying the crime was not born at schools, but is imported from “communities overwhelmed by crime, drugs, poverty and hopelessness”. He urged the state to use all the resources at its disposal to ensure that schools are free from any form of violence.
Siphosethu Ngcobo (IFP) previoulsy blamed the inequitable psycho-social support provided to address trauma, bullying and gangsterism at schools, as well as the lack of local and effective security infrastructure, especially in under-resourced and rural schools. “We reiterate that the Department of Basic Education should form partnerships with community police forums, traditional leaders and governing bodies to create a localised safety plan,” he said.
ANC’s Tshepo Louw suggested: “We must invest in psychological services to address the cause of aggressive behaviour and foster a culture of empathy and respect at our schools.”
Pastor Lesiba Kgwele, national spokesperson for the SA Union Council of Independent Churches, condemned the surge in school violence, calling it “a reflection of moral decay in communities where family and societal values have eroded and gangsterism has become normalised.” He said:
“Thirty-one years into democracy, we must confront the rise of unethical behaviour in our communities. Learners are growing up without role models to guide them. These incidents of violence are a stark reminder of that failure. We need decisive action and to stand united behind our teachers, many of whom are leaving the profession under this pressure.”
The Star
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