/ 13 May 2005

Pupils run riot at township schools

A GROUP of angry Mpumalanga pupils ran riot on Monday and stoned teachers’ cars in protest against corporal punishment.

Police arrested over 60 pupils from Sozama Secondary School at Mhluzi near Middelburg who also disrupted classes in the township’s other two schools, said police spokesman Captain Malcolm Mokomeni.

He said the pupils were charged with malicious damage to property and public violence. “We might add more charges at a later stage as more affected teachers come up. At the moment the police are still establishing the damage caused,” Mokomeni said. Mokomeni said that according to unconfirmed police information, the riot was started by a group of boys who were playing volleyball in school hours last Thursday.

“The boys allegedly made nasty remarks to a teacher who warned them to go to class, and the teacher got angry and beat one of them,” Mokomeni explained. On Friday the pupils visited the local police station commander to complain about the use of corporal punishment. “The commissioner told them he would convene a meeting with the teachers, parents and pupil’s representative body on Monday,” Mokomeni said.

On Monday, the pupils rioted instead of attending the meeting. They disrupted classes at the nearby Mphanama High School and police had to intervene when they tried to disrupt classes at Sofunda High School, Mokomeni said. Mpumalanga Education spokesman Peter Maminza said the children had no right to “disrupt and infringe on the rights of others to education”. He said they were to go back to school and wait for education authorities to resolve the matter. He said the department would take disciplinary measure if the allegations of corporal punishment were confirmed.

— African Eye News Service, March 14, 2000.