3 min speech on exposure to violence leads to demotivation
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On Friday 27 October, six organisations and their affiliates marched to Parliament calling for safer schools, safer communities and more equitable distribution of police resources in the Western Cape – but particularly safer schools. This follows last week’s confirmation of the Western Cape’s dubious title as the murder capital of the country. Small steps have been taken towards increasing the safety of residents in some of the Cape’s most vulnerable communities. But activists say learners still face threats to their safety that severely impact on their capacity to learn. By MARELISE VAN DER MERWE.
Equal Education has held a week of mass action calling for increased safety measures in schools and communities in the Western Cape, culminating in a march by thousands of protesters to Parliament on Friday.
Protesters handed over a memorandum to officials from provincial and national government, joined by the Social Justice Coalition (SJC), Nyanga Community Policing Forum (CPF), National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa), the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) and Unite Behind and its affiliates.
The marchers included activists, parents and school learners, who raised several grievances – poor sanitation, inadequate facilities – but most of all, the effect of being exposed to violence and how it felt to fear for their safety. Learners spoke of the trauma of witnessing peers being hurt or killed, or being robbed or assaulted themselves at school or en route.
The memo, which was addressed to Premier Helen Zille, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga, Police Minister Fikile Mbalula, MEC for Community Dan Plato and MEC for Education Debbie Schafer, called for public acknowledgement of the extent of the problem, practical steps towards improving safety, and more funding for safety measures such as fencing, access control, metal detectors and alarms. It also called for armed guards and more visible policing.
Earlier in the week, EE members from Fezeka Secondary School and ID Mkhize Secondary School marched to the Gugulethu Police Station to demand police visibility around their school, the first in a series of actions to demand safe communities, safe schools and equitable distribution of police resources. Singing and waving placards, learners and EE members called for police action against drug abuse and drug dealing on or near school premises.
The week of mass action comes shortly after the release of the latest crime statistics, which confirmed the Western Cape as the province with the highest incidence of murder. Nyanga was again the murder capital of the country, with 281 murders recorded there. In the same week, Police Minister Fikile Mbalula announced that a piece of land in Nyanga had been identified for a new police station. More police vehicles would be dispatched too, for greater visible policing, he said.
Learner safety
But activists say they remain concerned about the safety of learners not just in Nyanga, but in multiple locations across the Western Cape. In September, schools in Manenberg were forced to cancel school excursions due to gang violence, after attempts to ensure safety using police escorts failed. Police spokesperson, Lieut-Col André Traut, told media it was simply too risky to expose learners to the possibility of “fall[ing] victim to gang-related activities”. Earlier in October, parents in Hanover Park threatened to shut down eight primary and two high schools over safety concerns. The long-contested Uitzig High School finally learnt it would be shutting down after years of vandalism and emergency repairs. Volunteers for the Walking Bus initiative in Mfluleni, meanwhile, who risk their lives to protect school learners, have been campaigning for payment, with provincial government pledging to try to find funds.
Daily Maverick has reported that SJC and EE are taking the Minister of Police, the National Commissioner of Police, the Western Cape Police Commissioner and the Western Cape Minister for Community Safety to the Equality Court to fight for more equitable police allocation following the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry. The case will be heard from 28-30 November 2017.