“Is this the way we are going to live this year again.”
These are the words of one of the teachers at TM Letlhake Secondary School in Bekkersdal on the West Rand as chaos erupted once again at the troubled school.
Sowetan visited the school on Friday as matric results were being released.
There was buzz at the school with teachers congratulating those who have done well in the class of 2022.
TM Letlhake is considered one of the worst performing school in the province with serious problems of gangsterism taking place.
In 2021, the school got a 38% pass rate and in 2022, it improved to 68%. Chairperson of the school governing body Nicholas Makhoba spoke about the challenges at the school and how he is trying to steer the ship in the right direction.
But just as Makhoba said the school was yet to be stable, screams of girls could be heard from outside. “I think it is girls playing,” he said.
However, the screams persisted and it was clear that something wrong was going on. Not long thereafter, a young man with his shirt off was brought into the office with a gushing wound in his left knee.
He told Makhoba that he had come to the school to fetch house keys from one of the pupils but was attacked by a group of boys who had quarrelled with him at a tavern some time ago.
This is the reality of TM Letlhake, which has become a battleground for gangs in the community of Simunye township.
Some of the pupils were smoking dagga on the school premises.
But despite these problems, three matriculants – Yamkela Kolo, 17, Avuyile Makazi, 18 and Odwa Mnguni,18 – resolved to fight for their future.
When the gang violence reached “unbearable” levels, the teenagers asked the teachers if they could study at home for two weeks in September.
“There were fights almost every day. We’d come to school and then we are told to go home because of it. We saw that this would have a devastating impact on our studies.
“We studied at night because it was quiet. We would start at 8pm and finish at 5am, then go to sleep. We’d start studying again about 10am util 2pm. Sometimes we did not even take a bath,” said Kolo, who got a distinction in physical science and 78% in maths and life sciences.
During that time, the three were able to finish the entire syllabus. When they returned to school, all they did was just revision.
“The experience of being at this school has taught us to be independent. We can learn without depending [on] teachers. This is what we will take to our tertiary institutions,” Kolo said.
Makazi got three distinctions – in maths, physical science and life sciences – while Mnguni got a diploma pass.
An administrator had to be introduced to TM Letlhake due to the chaos at the school.
Between March and October last year, on average, 14 out of 53 teachers did not report for duty. Pupils used smart boards to connect their cellphones to play music and watch movies all day.
An administrator was appointed to stabilise the school.
Makhoba said appointing an administrator stabilised the school's finances and enabled l them to buy basic things like a photocopier.
“I believe things are going to change. We had problems with some children causing problems but now they are gone. We have also tightened security at the gate to control access to the school. Teachers are now reporting for duty daily,” Makhoba said.
dlaminip@sowetan.co.za
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