Black pupils near Durban take their struggle into an Indian township. Farouk Chothia reports
ONGOING violence at a black school in Amaoti, near Durban, spilled over into the adjacent Indian township of Phoenix this week with Indian pupils being attacked by black pupils.
A large group of pupils from Amaoti’s Amandlethu Secondary School, some armed with knobkieries, went to the Westham Secondary School in Phoenix on Monday, seeking “solidarity” from Indian pupils in their struggle for education. After attempts at negotiations proved fruitless, the black pupils broke classroom windows and attacked Indian scholars.
Parent Sagren Moonian said his 12-year-old daughter was one of about 10 children who were badly beaten up. “My daughter was banged against the wall and she was hit with a knobkierie. Her wrist was sprained,” he said.
According to a witness, the attackers later broke into several groups and marched past other Phoenix schools. As fear swept through the sprawling Indian township north of Durban, community leaders set up a “monitoring team” with police to prevent further invasions.
A witness said two attackers were arrested but released to avoid further confrontation. At one stage, a large group of protesters began marching to the Phoenix police station to demand the release of their colleagues.
The next day the Amaoti pupils also went on the rampage in central Durban, attacking offices in the Nedbank Centre in Albert Street where the Department of Education and Training (DET) is based. They smashed office windows and damaged computer equipment, causing total damage estimated at R600 000.
The principal of Amandlethu, Bheki Manzi, said the protests arose from the fact that there were no teachers for 1 600 pupils at his school, and some of them were still waiting for last year’s exam results. While he did not “condone” the violence, the pupils’ anger could not be “contained”.
The kwaZulu/Natal chairman of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), Nhlanhla Ngubane, condemned the attacks: “It was thuggery. They were exploiting the volatile situation here.”
Westham Secondary School closed after the attack, but was expected to reopen on Thursday.
The ANC-aligned Phoenix Working Committee and Sadtu held a meeting with Indian parents on Tuesday evening in a bid to calm their fears. With some of his pupils, Manzi made a surprise appearance at the meeting and in an off-the-cuff speech he apologised for the attack: “Maybe my words will not soothe the pain you have. It is unfortunate that such an incident occured with a community that we love so much.”
When parents demanded to know why violence was used, Manzi replied: “We realise our mistake. We give you an assurance that it will not happen again. Bring your children to school tomorrow.”
The violence in Phoenix and central Durban appeared to be a spill-over of violent power struggles — resulting in the fleeing of teachers, the taking of hostages and the drawing of guns — that have racked Amandlethu since 1993. An official report into the crisis identifies Manzi, who has a “persuasive” personality, as one of the key figures in the conflict. Among its recommendations are that Manzi be transferred to another school.
The report, leaked to the Weekly Mail & Guardian, says Manzi launched a successful campaign to oust his predecessor, MA Cebekhulu, who had overlooked him for promotion. It says that while Manzi denies the allegation, evidence suggests that he began a “revenge campaign” that resulted in Cebekhulu being accused of embezzling school funds, although a subsequent investigation found that financial records were in order.
As pupils and parents turned against him, Cebekhulu went on sick leave and applied for early retirement. This paved the way for Manzi to be “elected” acting principal by pupils, but teachers opposed his appointment as they accused him of levelling “false charges” against Cebekhulu, the report adds.
As the conflict spiralled out of control, teachers were provided around-the-clock police protection at the school last October after one of their colleagues was assaulted by pupils.
Later, there was a fight between two teachers, resulting in teachers staging a stay-away. Pupils were left alone during the last three days of the matric examination last year.