Durban - Parents of Mzuvele High School pupils, in KwaMashu, have pledged to pay out of their own pockets for night watchmen to guard the school, which has been hit by rampant theft for more than 10 years.
School governing body chairman Bongani Khumalo said parents at a meeting on Thursday, agreed to each contribute R20 a month for three nightwatchmen.
Khumalo also said a school safety forum had been formed and all parents would be encouraged to pay towards the costs of guards.
Representatives of a British school which had donated 30 computers that were stolen visited the school on Thursday, only to be shown an empty computer lab.
Georgina Lambton, a maths specialist at Garforth Academy in Leeds, said they vowed to continue their support.
She was told how since 2002 criminals had stripped the school, which has 1 191 pupils, of electronic equipment, copper pipes, electrical wires and toilets.
The school only has one security guard during the day.
The school had to cancel most of its lessons on Thursday as the toilets were not working because pipes had been stolen.
Lambton said she was shocked by the theft at the school.
She had been appointed in September to head the partnership between the two schools and was at Mzuvele for a maths project.
Mzuvele maths teacher Lindiwe Mvelase will accompany Lambton back to England to attend a skills development programme at Garforth.
Mzuvele’s governing body secretary, Lungile Mthimkhulu, said her school had requested computers from Garforth because it wanted to introduce computer lessons.
Lambton said pupils at her school had raised the money to buy the computers through sports events.
She said her school would not give up on Mzuvele and she would lobby for more funds to install security at the school.
“We are very a big school - we have about 1 900 students. So there are lots of students who can raise money through their family and friends.
“Hopefully there is room in the future for us to try and help them with steel bars on doors and windows to try to make the place to look more secured.”
Thandokuhle Primary School, which is close to Mzuvele High, had also been a victim of break-ins and theft for years.
A teacher at the primary school, who could not be named as she was not allowed to speak to the media, said the criminals had stolen stationery, toilet paper, water pipes, electricity cables, groceries meant for the pupils’ feeding scheme, a photocopying machine, a number of computers and tools.
“There are people who break in and sleep in the classrooms. They are also doing laundry in the school, which leaves the school with a huge water bill.”
She said the school had been allocated R100 000 for maintenance this year by the Department of Education, but its annual water bill was R82 000, leaving little money for general repairs.
Education MEC Peggy Nkonyeni’s spokesperson, Scelo Khuzwayo, said the department had always been concerned about the lack of security at the schools, but could not provide security because of a lack of funds.
“There are so many schools in KZN that need security, and we need sufficient budget to cover them all. Our ultimate goal is to have 24/7 security in all the schools,” he said.
The Mercury