Cape Town - A gangster who had been terrorising pupils and staff at a Parow school for weeks, has been arrested.
Police on Tuesday arrested the 28s gang member at Uitzig Secondary School.
The 19-year-old was tied up and led from the school to a waiting police van. Dawie van Wyk, acting Community Policing Forum chairman for the area, said the man had been embroiled in fighting between the 28 and 26 gangs in the area.
“It has been going on for months, and what really concerns us is the school has become a hotbed for assaults and drug use,” he said.
“The school needs more resources to keep these elements off campus, because the fighting and gangsterism is really disruptive to learning. Two safety officers just isn’t enough.”
It’s believed the man was arrested for trespassing.
Rosie Smith, one of the school safety officers employed by the Department of Community Safety, said she received death threats on a weekly basis. Her job involves removing trespassers and gangsters from the school grounds – sometimes forcibly.
The intruders bring drugs, mostly dagga, to deal to pupils during break.
“At every break time there is a cloud of dagga smoke that comes from the ground’s far corner,” she said. “I have to remove these guys, otherwise there is fighting as well. It’s dangerous work, but I’m not really that scared because I know every one of them personally.”
Charles Esau, a councillor for the area, suggested an urgent meeting should be set up between the school governing body and the principal.
“Principals have the right to do random drug tests and this needs to be done to address gangsterism.”
The school’s principal did not want to comment at the time of publication.
Cape Argus