Youths in Khutsong in Carletonville, west of Johannesburg, have again protested against their incorporation into the North West, police said on Friday. Superintendent Louis Jacobs said the youths barricaded streets, burned tyres and stoned passing vehicles at about midday.
”Police then had to use rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. No one was injured or arrested. But things have since calmed down,” said Jacobs.
He said the youths had been returning from a meeting called by the Congress of South African Students to discuss the Merafong municipality’s incorporation into the North West from Gauteng, when the incident happened.
Teachers and pupils are said to have been boycotting classes since last week as they do not want their administration run by the North West education department, which has threatened to fire teachers who continue to abandon classes.
This follows teachers’ failure to attend a meeting called by North West education minister Johannes Tselapedi on Thursday. The department’s acting superintendent general, Mathanzima Mweli, said on Friday that the meeting was intended to discuss educational matters and listen to teachers’ complaints.
”We wanted to ensure a smoother transfer as, administratively, all teachers in Khutsong are now managed by the North West provincial government as from April 1,” said Mweli.
He said the department views the teacher’s strike as illegal. ”We will therefore not hesitate to take drastic action to bring sanity to educators. We will not be held to ransom by educators whose primary responsibility is teaching and giving our learners quality education.
”The principle of no work, no pay will also apply for the period where effective teaching and learning did not take place. Their action may also lead to a possible dismissal,” said Mweli.
He said the department will take further disciplinary action against all school principals and their deputies who failed to come to the meeting.
Another meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday and he hopes that teachers will attend.
”Our priority is giving children the education they deserve. All other complaints should be handled elsewhere and not in the school yard,” said Mweli.
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) has, however, denied that teachers are abandoning their classes. ”The teachers have been going to school. It is the learners who are not there,” said Carletonville Sadtu deputy chairperson Siza Temane.
”What can we do if learners do not report to school? Media reports of teachers not reporting to schools are incorrect. Yes, we are unhappy about the incorporation into the North West, but we are continuing with our work and still waiting for the ANC [African National Congress] to come and alleviate our fears,” said Temane. — Sapa