Durban - Just hours after members of the provincial legislature (MPLs) condemned the violent incidents at some KwaZulu-Natal schools, including destruction of property, a school was torched in Dassenhoek near Pinetown this weekend.
Dassenhoek High School, which had two previous arson incidents, was set alight this weekend. The school is in the Pinetown District, where another school was also torched recently.
Earlier this month, pupils set a part of Ndengetho High School, in KwaNdengezi, alight after their cellphones were confiscated during a police search and seizure operation at the school.
KZN Education Department spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi confirmed the weekend incident, which he described as heartbreaking and confusing.
“At the start of the month we condemned the torching of a school in the district, and now, just weeks after the incident, we encounter this.
“It is now starting to be a pattern in the district that a school is set alight. Quite honestly it is difficult to comprehend as to who would do this, and the reason thereof,” said Mahlambi.
He noted that the incident happened just days after the police had searched some pupils and recovered drugs and weapons.
“We have less than 40 days to go before the final matric exams and every pupil should be preparing for this, but that will not be the case for pupils from Dassenhoek because of this,” Mahlambi said.
One of the teachers went to the school yesterday to salvage some of the stationery and books that had not been damaged.
The teacher, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, decried the attitude of the community and said it was evident that the incident was linked to the random searches that were conducted by the police.
“It goes without saying that because of drugs we have ended with this problem. The fact that police come here unexpectedly and seize drugs and weapons makes some people unhappy,” said the teacher.
IFP spokesperson on education, Thembeni Madlopha-Mthethwa, decried the burning of the school, and called on the community to take a stand against such incidents.
“This is a worrying development because it shows that the community has not taken ownership of the school, otherwise such an incident would not have happened,” said the MPL.
She was one of the lawmakers who participated in the debate on school safety in the legislature last week. She called on communities to be protective of the schools as the children’s futures depended on them getting an education.
“There seems to be a tendency that because the government builds schools, it is nobody’s business as to what happens to them, but that is a bad attitude,” the MPL said. She added that the school had had a series of problems in the past, including from former pupils.
“In February this year some pupils who failed in 2021 came to the school and terrorised teachers and pupils,” she said.
DA MPL and spokesperson on education, Imraan Keeka, said it was unfortunate that the incident happened after the police had conducted the search.
“What ought to happen is that the police should work at ensuring the arrests of those responsible for this crime so that they face the full might of the law,”said the MPL. He added that the police were well within their rights to conduct random searches at schools.
“It is unfortunate that a tiny number of people through this action have now affected the lives of many pupils.”
National Teachers’ Union president Sibusiso Malinga said it was disturbing to have a school burnt, adding that such an act amounted to an attack on the nation.
“We condemn the act and we urge the police to move with speed in arresting whoever is involved in this. It should not be allowed to happen because the future of pupils in that school is now in jeopardy,” said Malinga.
The National Professional Teachers’ Association of SA (Naptosa) said the incident was worrying and showed scant regard for the pupils’ futures.
“We hope those responsible will be made to pay for what they have done,“ said Naptosa KZN CEO Thirona Moodley.
Attempts to get comment from Education Portfolio Committee Chairperson Sifiso Sonjica and the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union’s Nomarashiya Caluza were unsuccessful.