Drug dealers recruiting children as young as nine to peddle drugs.
That is the worrying reality at some schools in Nelson Mandela Bay, under siege from gangsterism, drugs and vandalism.
Speaking during a recent visit to the Bay to strengthen safety, school discipline and the wellbeing of pupils and teachers, education minister Siviwe Gwarube appealed to communities to take back schools from thugs, saying the department and SA Police Service (SAPS) could not “win the battle of school safety” on their own.
“It is going to require the whole of society to say we are taking back our communities,” she said.
“What has angered me the most is the fact that there are elders in our communities who are asking children as young as nine years old to get drugs into schools to sell them to other children.
“That cannot be solved by educators and the SAPS alone.
“The SAPS cannot be at the gate every single day searching children for substance abuse and knives.
“We can’t expect our teachers to turn into police officers and social workers.
“What that says to me is that this has to be a whole society approach — our parents, churches, traditional leaders and society must come on board.”
Describing the deeply disturbing situation, particularly at township and northern areas schools, staff recalled incidents, including an armed robbery in which BJ Mnyanda Primary School principal Simphiwe Lukasi said he was almost shot a few years back when two men entered their school premises — but the gun jammed.
It is not an isolated incident; over the years we have read countless accounts of criminals either targeting schools directly or gangs using schoolgrounds as their battleground, with pupils caught up in the crossfire.
And it is unacceptable.
Schools should be sanctuaries of learning, not an environment in which pupils are exposed to drugs and criminal influence.
So we implore communities — parents, churches, civic organisations and local leaders — to assist police and education officials and to reclaim ownership of their schools or risk losing an entire generation to violence and crime.
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