Cape Town - Western Cape schools have been subjected to a wave of vandalism after 42 schools reported incidences of stolen property and damage over the winter holidays.
This comes after the Western Cape Education Department released its school vandalism report and noticed that most of the incidents occurred in four metro education districts.
According to the department, items stolen included packs of sanitary pads, first-aid kits, fencing, solar panels, consumables such as stationery and cleaning materials, tablets, ICT equipment, security and electrical equipment.
Education activist Hendrick Makaneta said it was known that acts of vandalism occur mainly during school holidays, but it is high time that during this period there must be maximum visibility of security personnel to avoid repetition.
“Vandalism of schools in South Africa is a cause for great concern. For too long, we have called on the government to be proactive and not wait for acts of vandalism before taking action. We live in a volatile country where schools are not spared from acts of criminality. The government should strengthen security measures at all levels, particularly in communities. If communities are not safe, schools can never be safe.
“The other aspect is that society needs to unlearn and relearn the concept of school safety. Currently, some in society view schools as government property, which should only be protected by the government. Communities need to take ownership of schools and keep them safe, in addition to the limited number of security personnel,” said Makaneta.
Citing an increase in school vandalism cases during the same period last year when 38 schools reported incidents of vandalism on the school grounds, Western Cape Education MEC David Maynier said these incidences would mean that nearly a million rand that could have been spent on educating learners would be spent on fixing wanton damage.
“One major incident involved damage estimated at over R121 000. The total cost of all the incidents is currently estimated at R808 600, with the estimates for some of the incidents still outstanding. That means that nearly a million rand that could have been spent on educating our learners now must be spent on fixing wanton damage.
“Of particular concern is that some of the schools which fell victim to crime over the holidays had security guards, cameras and other security features in place. We need to better understand what our schools need to ensure that they are safe from criminal attacks.
“Our schools have reported the cases to SAPS, and I will seek a meeting with the provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile, to discuss progress on these and the cases reported by our schools and the department previously,” said Maynier.