Johannesburg - The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) has called for properly trained security personnel to oversee security in schools.
This follows a series of violent incidents at schools in the form of bullying, suicide, stabbing and shooting since the beginning of the year.
The union said it was saddened and alarmed by the increasing number of violent incidents at schools. It said the incidents in Gauteng, Free State and other provinces were worrying.
A learner was stabbed to death at Geluksdal Secondary School in Brakpan, while two learners died by suicide in the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal because of bullying.
In Kagiso a man had held teachers hostage and stabbed one of the teachers before he was fatally shot by another teacher.
The union also raised alarm about sexual violence against learners.
“In a number of schools across the country we still observe the sexual assault and harassment of learners by those who are supposed to protect being teachers. This group of unprofessional sex pests continue to damage the profession. It is only counter-revolutionaries who can engage in this kind of violence against our children in our schools,” said Sadtu.
Sadtu said these incidents showed that learners and teachers were not safe.
It called for security measures to be implemented to prevent these incidents from happening.
“Our schools do not have enough infrastructure to ensure learners, teachers and communities do not bring weapons to schools. We call for properly trained security personnel to oversee security in schools,” it said.
It called on communities to join a campaign to protect schools against any form of violence or illegal activities.
“The campaign calls on all stakeholders to make schools safe havens, stop violence against teachers and learners, stop vandalising schools, keep schools safe and clean and build a caring society.
“It’s our business as human beings in all spheres of life to protect everyone in our society and schools must be havens of safety,” said Sadtu.
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