A routine school search by Midrand officers has led to a number of discoveries at the Noordwyk Secondary School.
The Midrand police were working in conjunction with the Metro police to root out any illegal and unpermitted substances at the school on 11 May. During the search, police found a number of cell phones in school children’s school bags, which are not permitted at the school. Some cell phones were hidden in pockets made out of book covers and pasted underneath desks using masking tape.
Cigarettes were also among the discoveries. A box of cigarettes and a box of matches was discovered hidden inside a book with some pages cut out in the middle.
The most shocking discovery of all was dagga hidden inside a highlighter, allegedly belonging to a 20-year-old Grade 11 learner.
“This was one of our ongoing operations to ensure that schools are drug-free and learners are not bringing anything to school that they shouldn’t. It is one of our efforts to fight drug abuse,” said spokesperson for Midrand Police Station, Sergeant Matome Tlamela.
Principal of the school, Alex Tau said he was very excited about the initiative coming to his school. “I am glad it happened,” he added.
“High schools especially are battling with drug abuse and this is one of the measures to declare a fight against it. I wish it could be a consistent thing. You can only change the culture of learners through consistency.”
Tau further said that the learner who was found in possession of dagga would face an internal disciplinary hearing.
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