The spectre of burning schools and other institutions of learning continues to rear its ugly head with potentially devastating consequences for our country. Recently, a group of illegal land occupiers from Olievenhoutbosch, near Centurion, torched part of the Greenhill GB Primary School to the ground after threats of forceful removal from the land they had illegally occupied and built shacks on.
Apparently, part of the land they occupied was used by the school for extramural activities. For this reason, they must have deemed the school a legitimate target to vent their anger and frustration on. According to reports, they smashed the front gate to the school and fence and also cut off its power supply.
The burnt block was used to store groceries, school uniform, fridges and stationery. For good measure, these hoodlums broke into classrooms where they helped themselves to the computers. As to how this cynical act of sabotage was related to their protest is anyone’s guess.
The immediate effect of the actions of these saboteurs was that the academic programme of the school had to be stopped, with pupils missing out on teaching and learning time. According to one William Peta, who is said to be a “community leader” and EFF member, the party and the people identified the land, “which looked beautiful and created by God”, for occupation.
He then incredibly denied that people who vandalised the school were part of the protest. It is very disturbing that schools, which are assets that can arguably guarantee a better future for our children and effectively our nation, can be targeted for acts of arson. It is also worrisome to note the culture of demand which has crept onto our national psyche and has overtaken that of dialogue.
This culture of demand was witnessed at its severest in 2016 when more than 30 schools were burnt in Vuwani outside Thohoyandou in Limpopo, when residents were protesting against municipal demarcations. Universities, which are supposedly cauldrons of an exchange of ideas and the cultivation of intellectual rapports, are also not spared from orgies of destruction and mayhem.
During the so-called “FeesMustFall” protests, extensive damage to the tune of close to R1b was caused when university property was damaged by students protesting against fee increases in 2015. The application of a zero-sum game of resorting to violence when demands are not met, serves as a frightening portend of what is to be expected in the future, especially from those supposed to take over the mantle of national leadership.
When students burn an administration block, a library and computer laboratory, all nerve centres of any institution of higher learning, the future certainly does not look promising. The July 2021 riots precipitated by the incarceration of Jacob Zuma also impacted negatively on schools when they were once again targeted for acts of vandalism and arson.
Teaching and learning was negatively affected and the rights of children to education was hampered owing to learning losses leading to higher dropout rates. Burning schools and any institution where tuition is offered is essentially burning education. This is sad because the provision of quality education is the key to socioeconomic transformation.
Setting fire to a school represents the height of cynicism and should be regarded as terrorism. Such acts set the country back and are an impediment to our national progress. There is a need for a tougher stance against such acts as those of the burning of a school in defence of illegality.
Such a defence can also be witnessed when residents protest against power cuts sans a concomitant willingness to pay for electricity. Acts of arson and destruction cannot be justified on the basis of disenchantment with unfulfilled promises by the ANC government.
The alternative to a culture of demand is that of first coming to a realisation that the country is on auto pilot without any political leadership. The ANC is a spent force and we have to look beyond it for solutions for our country. A reorientation of values is necessary. Our young ones have to be taught about the importance of dialogue as a vehicle for the amicable resolution of problems.
They need to eschew violence as a mechanism to resolve conflict. This reorientation should start from our homes, schools, churches and broader communities. The time to burn has to come to an end and replaced by a time to talk and seek solutions.
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