Teachers and school staff are the responsibility of their employers, and parents are responsible for getting their children to school safely, the KwaZulu-Natal Parents’ Association (KZNPA) said on Tuesday.
KZNPA chairperson Sayed Rajack said schools have become the easiest targets for criminals, especially during exam time. Many KZNPA members are school governing-body representatives.
On Tuesday, the safety of teachers and pupils once again came under the spotlight when a Durban teacher was robbed and stabbed.
”We are pleading with the Ministry [of Education] to look at the safety aspect of all staffers and pupils at schools … and if we want good security, we need to hire good-quality, trained and high-calibre security guards,” Rajack said.
He said security guards should not be paid poorly if they are to meet high expectations.
”And the safety of pupils … It’s the parents’ responsibility to make sure their children get to school safely. It’s not the responsibility of school staff or those transporting children to school,” he said.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Daniela Veldhuizen said the Mariannhill teacher was leaving Mariann Park Primary School on Monday when the robbery and stabbing incident took place.
”The woman was driving out of the school premises and, at the gate, five men — four with firearms and one with a knife — were waiting for her,” she said. ”They told her to get out of the car and as she was getting out, one of them stabbed her in the shoulder.”
The suspects jumped into her grey Volkswagen Polo and fled. Police have since been on the lookout for the vehicle, which they believe could be used in another crime.
The teacher is recovering at a local hospital.
Last week, 23 teachers were held up at Savannah Park Secondary School, situated 3km from Mariannhill. Jewellery, cellphones and cash were taken from the staff, but no one was injured. The suspects hijacked a teacher’s car outside the school and fled the scene.
On July 9 this year, a Clairwood Boys’ High teacher was hijacked and robbed on the school premises. Police at the time said the teacher was approached by two men when she drove into the school. The men were enquiring about a student at the school when they held her at gunpoint. They took her cellphone, handbag and car keys and drove off with her BMW.
In August this year, management at Brooklyn Heights Primary School in Chatsworth was forced to close the school’s doors after a teacher was stabbed and robbed.
In March, a teacher was shot dead when he arrived at Mathonsi Primary School in Mandini. Police said Thulane Ntshangase (41) was parking his car when an unknown man walked up to the car and shot him twice.
This came days after the bodies of two teachers from Hlokohloko Primary School were found dumped in bushes in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The principal and two other teachers are facing murder charges in connection with their deaths.
In April last year, a Chatsworth primary-school teacher placed her life in great danger when she pushed a man bearing a military-issue rifle out of her classroom to protect her pupils. The man was one of five armed men who robbed teachers at Pinewood Primary School in Montford, Chatsworth. It was the seventh time the school had been robbed in the past five years.
The gang — all carrying R5 military rifles — cut through a bordering fence and entered classrooms. They held up five classes and took cellphones, jewellery and cash. The principal was then held at gunpoint and his belongings were taken.
Rajack said: ”For far too long, criminal elements and thugs are holding us at ransom. It’s sad that the powers that be are doing very little to stop the level of violence and crime in our country.”
The Education Department’s Christie Naude and Dr Cassius Lubisi were not available for comment on the matter. — Sapa