The United Democratic Movement (UDM) appealed to the government on Tuesday to take urgent action to restrict the ”easy access” to dangerous weapons, especially guns, in schools.
UDM spokesperson Jakes Maseka called on Education Minister Kader Asmal and Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula to immediately beef-up security at schools ”so that shootings among pupils are halted”.
”It is totally unacceptable that four pupils have died in the space of a week as result of guns being carried by pupils at school,” he said in a statement.
The UDM believed regular police inspections for drugs and dangerous weapons in schools would help to reduce incidents of violence at schools.
”These horror incidents indicate that pupils and teachers in our schools are vulnerable and at risk. This is an indictment of the government, which drags its feet with the implementation of the Firearms Control Act.
”Schools are supposed to be safe places where pupils study without fear. The government must act now before it’s too late and restrict the easy access to dangerous weapons, especially guns, in schools,” Maseka said.
On Monday, KwaZulu-Natal Education and Culture MEC Narend Singh ”declared war on the growing lawlessness” at schools in the province.
Speaking at the launch of Child Protection Week in Durban, he said he was ”shocked and very disturbed to learn of reports that some learners, in collaboration with other unscrupulous adults, have turned our schools into havens for drug dealers”.
”But, as if that is not horrible enough, there are reports also of learners who come to school carrying knives, firearms and other dangerous weapons to the extent that some learners have lost their lives at the hands of their schoolmates.
”Whether the victim died accidentally is a mute point. The point is that we have learners and some teachers who carry dangerous weapons.
”I cannot allow that to go on. We are in a serious business of building the nation. I cannot therefore allow criminals who masquerade as learners to take over our schools.”
Singh said he had, among other things, directed his department’s legal division to look into the legality of instituting random searches by police officers in schools.
If necessary, the Constitution should be amended to combat the problem and save lives, he said. – Sapa