Chaos erupted as a learners’ protest began at Badirile High School on Thursday, 17 June. One of the learners at the school, 17-year-old Xolani Mbesi, a Grade 12 learner, RCL treasurer and former head boy, told the Herald that a teacher had told them that one of their colleagues had tested positive for Covid-19. The learners were very concerned as they were not informed about the case. This was very different from the way another positive case was handled last year when the school was closed for a week. ‘’The learners were wondering why the school management did not inform us and the school continued normally this time around. We are at Level 3 but it still seems like we are at Level 1; the learners are not monitored by a certified person at the school,’’ he complained. The Badirile learners said they had also heard from their friends about Covid-19 cases at others schools. These learners were also worried because their schools were still open. A protest then erupted within the schoolyard and the learners marched to Tswasongu Secondary School, where they tried to speak to the deputy principal. The learners then forced the gate open and the Tswasongu learners joined them in a combined march to Relebogile High School. Once there, they also forced the gate open but went into the school premises and spoke with fellow learners. These learners joined them in a march to the Khutsong police station. They aimed to get the departments of health and education’s attention on the matter. “Teachers, the president and the Minister of Education do not care about the learners and our future. We wanted a letter or memorandum to say we could protest but they refused,” says a former learner of Relebogile and member of Cosas (Congress of South African Students) at this school, Mongwezi Sithole. A group of about 1,000 upset learners, including Cosas members and learners from all three Khutsong schools, marched from Khutsong, past Extension 5 to Wonderfontein High School the next morning. Although the police, CPF (Com- munity Policing Forum) members and security officers stopped many of the learners near Carletonville Mall, others managed to reach Wonderfontein. Fortunately, the police and teachers stopped them before they could do much damage. Several learners were shot with rubber bullets during the confrontation. Some were arrested but eventually released. Although the learners planned another march for Monday, this did not happen because, according to Sithole, the police would not allow it. “We are now in the third wave but no one takes it seriously,” he says. He also complained that the classrooms at the township schools are not regularly sanitised and the learners do not have screens to protect them from the disease. ‘’All we want is for the school to be shut down for a short while so we are safe. “We also want vaccinations at our schools and transparency from the management,’’ Mbesi echoed. 
