The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has intensified its crackdown on violence, bullying and criminal activity in schools, launching a series of SAPS-led search-and-seizure operations beginning at Badirile Secondary School in Khutsong after months of complaints from residents and stakeholders.
Speaking during the operation on Tuesday, Gauteng MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation Lebogang Maile said the intervention forms part of the department’s short-term response to escalating violence in schools and will be conducted regularly in partnership with law enforcement agencies.
“We received a lot of complaints about violence and crime in schools. In fact, we had a press conference about violence and crime in schools, and we said there are a number of things that we are going to do. One of the short-term interventions, in line with our health and safety strategy, is these searches that we are going to do regularly with the police, with and without the media,” Maile said.
The operation brought together the South African Police Service (SAPS), Gauteng Traffic Police, Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens, Community Policing Forums (CPFs), patrollers and community members.
Maile described Badirile Secondary School as one of the province’s most problematic schools, alleging that some learners intimidate teachers by threatening to call zama zamas and criminals to attack educators.
“There are kids here who threaten teachers that they will call zama zamas and criminals to murder the educators,” he said.
The MEC said some individuals attending the school are not participating in learning and instead use the premises to intimidate learners and staff.
“Some of them are not learners. They come to school just to eat the food which is meant for the learners. They come to school to terrorise other learners and to terrorise educators,” he said.
According to Maile, the school has also recently been the subject of complaints on social media regarding bullying, while community members had previously identified it as one of the area’s most notorious schools.
He further revealed that the school experienced a murder earlier this year, which he said reflected how serious the situation had become.
The MEC also raised concerns about educator absenteeism, saying he had received reports implicating five teachers who allegedly fail to report for duty, neglect teaching responsibilities and visit taverns during school hours.
“I am immediately instructing our labour relations to judge and act against them,” he said, adding that the educators were also the subject of a petition submitted by fellow staff members.
During his visit, Maile inspected attendance registers and classrooms before meeting educators, some of whom used the opportunity to express frustration over unresolved challenges affecting the school.
To restore order, the MEC instructed the district to appoint an acting principal immediately while the recruitment process for a permanent principal gets underway.
“The fact that the school does not have a principal, I’ve already instructed the district to bring someone who’s going to act as a principal,” he said. who’s going to act as a principal,” he said.
Maile said parents of learners implicated in misconduct would be summoned to the school, warning that officials would visit their homes should they fail to respond.
“We can’t have anarchy in our schools. When we said we’re going to take it head on, we were not joking,” he said.
He added that the department would also convene a parents’ meeting and engage the School Governing Body to strengthen discipline and accountability.
Following the Khutsong operation, the MEC proceeded to Thetha Secondary School and Duzenendlela Special School in Orange Farm as part of the province-wide campaign aimed at removing dangerous weapons, illegal substances and other safety threats from Gauteng schools.
If this is for publication, I’d also tighten the lead to make it stronger and more newsworthy, highlighting that the MEC labelled the school “notorious” and announced immediate action against both disruptive learners and allegedly absentee teachers.
