The province has witnessed a worrisome increase in violence, bullying, vandalism, and gangsterism in schools. Safer South Africa Foundation’s Free State Provincial Coordinator, Pitso Mereko, says as schools reopen after the coronavirus recess, he urges everyone involved in school safety and security to join hands and intensify efforts to fight the scourge. With learners already having lost valuable time due to the extended coronavirus lockdown, additional measures must be put in place to ensure that they do not lose any more time due to criminality such as gangsterism and vandalism, says Pitso. Another concern of Safer South Africa Foundation Free State is that learners are not attending school because of gang-related activities involving the youth. Coupled with this, is the fact that there was an increase in burglaries and vandalism at schools in the Lejweleputswa district. Altogether 30 incidents at 27 schools were reported within the first five weeks of lockdown, explains Mereko. Such incidents are becoming a common occurrence, noting the statistics released by the South African Police Service (SAPS) regarding children involved in crime. There were, at a national level, 779 murder cases involving children,353 cases of attempted murder, 5 672 cases of assault with the intent of causing grievous bodily harm and 3 058 sexual offence cases according to Mereko. Educator’s lives are also put at risk as a result of school violence.

To address this growing problem, Safer South Africa Foundation has joined hands with the police, courts, prisons, and traffic officers to give learners some experience of the criminal justice system. Since the launch of the programme in the Free State, 346 learners from six schools have attended the crime prevention course, adds Mereko.

OFM News/Blaine Jones