Buziwe Nocuze
Teachers at Matthew Goniwe Memorial High School in Khayelitsha are demanding police protect them against their own learners.
They say they are tired of being robbed by the kids.
Khayelitsha is one of the most dangerous townships in Cape Town.
On Tuesday, the teachers marched to the police station to demand that police officers protect them.
A teacher said they know they are being robbed by learners who wait for them after school.
“When we are being robbed the thugs say they saw the belongings when the teachers were busy teaching. If it is not them robbing us, they send their friends,” said the teacher.
“We need police visibility especially when it is time to go home.”
Spokesperson for the Western Cape Department of Education Bronagh Hammond said the teachers had expressed concern about a spate of robberies in the area around the school.
Hammond said the department assists with physical safety measures such as fencing, burglar bars, security gates, and an alarm linked to armed response.
“The department’s Safe Schools sub-directorate engages with law enforcement regarding school safety. Still, we are not able to control what happens outside of the school gate and within communities,” she said.
A community member said if they should try to intervene they would be asking for trouble for themselves and their families.
Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi, police spokesperson in Western Cape, said: “Khayelitsha police do their utmost best to be of service to the community they love.”
Swartbooi said a pupil at the school with three other underage suspects were arrested after a teacher was robbed of her bag and cell phone. They were later released into parental custody.
