Matric boarders have been banished from their hostel at Clarkebury High School in the middle of final exams, with some still struggling to find emergency accommodation in Ngcobo.
All grade 12 pupils have been chased from the hostel after scores of pupils, some allegedly drunk, clashed with boarding masters and security guards, pelting them with stones and spraying them with water.
They also switched off the power in both the boys and girls dormitories.
The incident, which left at least one pupil injured, happened on Tuesday. Pupils were instructed to vacate the hostel and only come back with their parents.
Some of the pupils at the historic school – former president Nelson Mandela’s alma mater – are from as far afield as Mthatha, Komani, and even East London.
While they were instructed to vacate the hostel, they were not prevented from writing exams, eating hostel meals and attending afternoon and weekend classes.
Siyanda Gijana, 22, injured his knee in the fracas and is now on crutches.
“I am struggling to study with the excruciating pain,” he said.
Gijana blame the drunken pupils who turned violent, but said the school should have acted better.
Some parents were furious at the risk of their children having to seek refuge with strangers as they have no relatives in Ngcobo.
Education department district director Amos Fetsha called on parents to make recommendations on how their children should be reprimanded.
It was a distortion of facts to say the pupils had been dismissed from the school or prevented from writing examinations, he said.
“No one has been denied their right to study and write exams. It is true they were all removed from the hostel after their violent behaviour and threats to vandalise the institution, and that they were told to bring their parents or guardians to the school.
“What else could we do after this kind of behaviour?
“We cannot wait until they destroy the hostel and maybe injure others before the school management and SGB act.”
Many parents were busy on Wednesday looking for accommodation in the village among the homesteads, but most were already full.
“We understand that some parents live far from Ngcobo – some as far as East London.
“But they must also meet us halfway and assist in addressing this kind of behaviour by their children,” Fetsha said.
He said that the decision to remove the pupils from the hostel was agreed upon during a meeting on Wednesday.
This is apparently the second time the pupils have misbehaved and threatened both security guards and their peers.
When the Dispatch visited the school on Thursday, it was peaceful and all the pupils had written their exams...