South Africa: Parents shut down school protesting for fence to avoid burglaries

Parents and students are protesting for the second week at Joe Slovo Primary School in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, demanding that steel palisade fencing should be installed at the school. It has been 8 days since students have not attended the classes, according to a media report by 'GroundUp'.

The school, which has 1,235 students from grade R to 7, was looted by thieves during the December holidays and it wasn't the first time that the school was burgled. Joe Slovo Primary School is the only school in the area and is thus overcrowded and under pressure as families from the nearby areas were relocated to Joe Slovo.

"Ten classrooms from the block at the back have no electricity because of the vandals. Toilets are leaking and stinking because thieves are vandalizing them. We have reported all the vandalism cases to the police, but all those cases don't progress," GroundUp quoted a teacher of the school as saying.

On Wednesday there were about 70 parents protesting with students waving handbills that read: "Amasela ayasiqgiba isikolo sethu" (Thieves are breaking through our school) and "Fence our school because the learners and teachers don't feel safe".

According to the report, School Governing Body (SGB) secretary Neliswa Mayedwa said that they are requesting a fence at the Port Elizabeth Education District offices since 2017 but in response, the officers are saying that fencing is the SGB's responsibility.

"This year we decided to shut down the school because the future of our children is going down the drain. The Department does not take the safety of our children seriously," the report quoted Mayedwa.

Loyiso Pulumani, Provincial Education spokesperson initially said the department currently can not fulfill the requests made by schools due to limitation of funds. However, the additional budget has been received from the Department of Basic Education in mid-February.