Durban - A learner, accused of setting a deputy principal's car alight in KwaZulu-Natal last week, has been released on a warning.
Provincial spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, said the 17-year-old appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate's Court on a charge of malicious damage to property following an incident that took place at the school.
"The learner was released on a warning into the custody of a guardian," she said. He is due back in court on Thursday. The NPA said he would appear in a District Court.
The learner, who is in Grade 10 at Northbury Secondary School, was charged last week after he allegedly doused the deputy principal’s Hyundai i30 with petrol and set it alight.
The Department of Basic Education in the province said the staffer had reprimanded the boy after he was found with a cellphone on school property, which violates the school’s rules.
The youngster went home but allegedly returned later and set the vehicle alight.
The incident was caught on camera, and videos have since gone viral.
The incident has been widely condemned.
"If schools have a no cellphone policy, parents must ensure that they play their part to avoid incidents such as this which appears to be nothing more than pure, distilled criminality," said the DA’s spokesperson on Education, Dr Imran Keeka.
The South African Council for Educators called on the local authorities, parents and communities to deal with the increasing violence against teachers.
“The rights and dignity of teachers must be respected at all times because their rights are human rights too,” the council said.
IOL