Vandalism worries teachers at start of new year

Staff at an East London primary school fear they will not be able to teach when schools reopen next week after eight classrooms were badly vandalised on Christmas Day.

The December 25 break-in at Nontuthuzelo Primary School in Ziphunzana was the fourth time thieves targeted the school  in 2019.

School governing body chair  Ludumo Salman said: “The school has fallen victim to criminals who break in, vandalise and steal school equipment.”

The Dispatch visited the school on Monday and found door handles and lights removed in two of the school blocks.

Doors were also destroyed and holes made in the ceiling.

Salman said the thieves made off with school’s sound system worth almost R10,000.

“During the break-in, a total of eight classrooms were vandalised. At this stage we are not sure  what else was taken,” he said.  

“It is only when all the staff have returned to school and tell us what has been stolen in their respective classrooms that we will be able to determine the estimated cost of the damage,” he said.

Salman said school management had appealed to the education department to put up razor wire around the property, but this had fallen on deaf ears.

“We have had several meeting with officials  in an attempts to have razor wire, but all our efforts were unsuccessful,” he said.

Salman attributed the series of break-ins to high levels of drug use in the area.

“Police have made many raids in the area and confiscated drugs and stolen items,” he said.

Teacher Siya Mgalagala told the Dispatch management had made a robbery complaint at Buffalo Flats police station.

Mgalagala said the break-ins were wreaking havoc with school budgets.

“We are a no-fee school. Now we will have to use our limited budget to fix all the damage that was caused and replace some of the broken items,” he said.

Education department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said break-ins and vandalism at schools were hampering preparations for the new school year.  

“The department does not allow children to be taught in classrooms that were broken into. This is due to safety concerns,” Mtima said.  

“In some cases you find that that there are broken windows or exposed electricity cables.

“In an effort to avoid children getting hurt, we do not allow children to be taught in those classes until it is safe to do so.

“The whole process of fixing whatever was broken takes time and delays teaching and learning,” he said.

Mtima called on communities to take responsibility in keeping school properties safe.

“Schools are a community inheritance from government and are meant for the development of those communities,” he said.

Mtima said although it was the responsibility of the department to fence schools, razor wire needed to be put up by the schools themselves.

The department will wait for reports from vandalised schools in the province and then allocate funds for repair work​.