Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga has expressed her horror at the ‘alarming number of schools which have been vandalized and damaged since the COVID-19 lockdown began’.
Three schools were broken into in the past 24 hours in KwaZulu-Natal and expensive learning equipment stolen from EThekwini Primary in Durban, the latest in a string of schools that have been damaged in recent weeks.
The latest burglary happened last night, the department said in a statement on Monday.
“This brings to 183 the number of schools vandalized around the country since the COVID-19 lockdown was put in place. Gauteng has reported 55 schools vandalized, Mpumalanga 72, North West seven and KZN two.”
Motshekga condemned the vandalism, burglary, and destruction of schools across several provinces. The minister was working working with her counterpart Police Minister Bheki Cele “to get to the bottom of these incidents”.
“It is quite disheartening that criminal elements in our communities could destroy the infrastructure of their own children with such apparent impunity. I am in constant touch with the minister of police, and with the assistance of the state intelligence forces, we are following leads to the immediate arrest and prosecution of every single criminal responsible,” said Motshekga.
She said communities were supposed to be caretakers of the infrastructure that the government had put in place for the education of children.
“It is extremely disappointing for criminals, who are part of the community, to randomly destroy the same infrastructure meant to provide decent spaces of learning and teaching meant for our children,” said Motshekga.
The minister urged community members to assist the police to identify the culprits, and not to buy items stolen from schools.
“These criminals must be reported to the police immediately. Let us work together to safeguard the future of our children by exposing these criminal elements,” she said.
The learners from these schools would be the hardest hit as there could be delays in the implementation of the curriculum recovery plan when schools finally reopened.
Members of the community were urged to be on the lookout for people vandalising schools or any public property.
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Source: The Citizen
