A group of fed-up parents took it upon themselves to round up 22 pupils they believe are gang members at a Gauteng school were clashes among gangs have become rampant.
The group, which was mostly composed of women — some with children on their backs — went to TM Letlhake Secondary School in Bekkersdal, Westonaria, early yesterday morning and searched all pupils at the gate for weapons.
The parents were also armed with a list of 30 pupils that they believe were gang members. The list was generated days earlier after interviews with other pupils and teachers who pointed out pupils believed to be affiliated with gangs.
The parents then proceeded into the classrooms where they picked up all suspected gang members and suspended them from school.
Last week, a fight broke out among pupils at the school resulting in four of them being taken to hospital with stab wounds. Three pupils were arrested at the weekend for the incident and appeared in court yesterday. Over the past three months, four stabbing incidents were recorded at TM Letlhake.
Gauteng department of education (GDE) spokesperson Steve Mabona said there is a huge concern regarding ill-discipline at the school. “As the department, we will continue with the process of disciplinary hearings against about 50 identified pupils. These suspected learners were suspended today,” said Mabona yesterday.
All identified boys and girls were then escorted to a classroom where they were instructed to fill in their details and sign a letter indicating that they have been suspended by the school.
“We have a list with 30 pupils that must be removed from the school,” said Vivian Xolo, one of the parents who led yesterday’s operation. “Some of the identified pupils did not attend school today hence we ended up with 22 pupils. But this is an ongoing operation. We will remain at the school the entire week to ensure that all pupils affiliated to gangs are completely removed from the school.”
The parents managed to seize numerous scissors, forks and teaspoons from a number of pupils at the gate during their search.
“These forks and teaspoons are used during fights. Last month we had to take one of the boys to Simunye Clinic after he was stabbed by a fellow pupil with a pair of scissors during a fight. Last week there was another fight that saw four pupils being taken to a nearby clinic with stab wounds,” said Gloria Velskoen, who is part of a security task team at the school.
Five police vans were stationed outside the gate to monitor the situation.
In trying to address the increasing violence, the parents and teachers some time ago requested Bekkersdal police station to adopt the school. Motivational speakers were assigned by police to visit the school on a weekly basis to engage with pupils, but the fights continued, according to parents.
“We have a few classes that are known as no-go zone for teachers. In those classes, that is where you find the most troublesome kids that belong to feared gangs. We want this thing to stop today. Our children and teachers must feel safe at all times,” said concerned parent Lebo Lebaka.
Members of the Congress of South African Students and Representative Council of Learners (RCL) support the stance taken by parents.
“Our parents have done a wonderful job today,” said RCL chairperson Siphesihle Jiya. “This shows that they care about the future of their kids. This is a school not a playing ground for gangsters. Any child that is part of a gang must not be allowed at this school again.”
But not all parents support the suspensions.
Nokuthula Khala said her child was wrongly accused of being part of a gang. Khala questioned the method used to identify suspended pupils and called on the department of education (GDE) to urgently stop the issued suspensions.
“Parents and the school’s security task team have no powers to remove pupils from the school. I have never been called to the school regarding my child’s behaviour before. I only received a call from him this morning [Monday] telling me that he has been chased out of the school for no valid reason. If they take him out of school where must he go? What must he do during school hours?”
Mabona said the law allowed parents to suspend pupils.
All schools follow section 9 (1) of South African School Act where a school governing body (SGB) may, on reasonable grounds and as a precautionary measure, suspend a pupil who is suspected of serious misconduct from attending school, but may only enforce such suspension after the pupil has been granted a reasonable opportunity to make representations to it in relation to such suspension.
“If a pupil is suspended, the SGB must conduct the disciplinary proceedings within seven days of the suspension, failing which, the governing body must obtain the approval of the head of department for the continuation of the suspension of such a learner,” said Mabona
nzimandeb@sowetan.co.za
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