Teachers fear for their lives after deputy principal gunned down outside school

As calls for better law enforcement and security in schools intensify, many teachers across the country say they live in fear of dying at the hands of pupils, following the fatal shooting of Phomolong Secondary School deputy principal Thembisile Ngendane.

National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB) general secretary Matakanye said: “We do not just [want to] protect the teachers, we want to protect the school as a whole; we need to create a safer environment for all of them.

“We must have school safety committees that include parents, community members and also pupils who are in high school, teachers and support staff, and then the police as well.”

The NASGB called on communities to come together in February and March to actively protect schools against the violence and vandalism. It also called on the police to work closely with communities to ensure perpetrators were arrested.

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A former teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, said she had resigned and relocated to North West following verbal death threats from a pupil who was expelled from a school in Pretoria.

“After a couple of arguments with the pupil and constantly asking him to leave my class because of his unruly behaviour, we had an altercation and he punched me in the face,” said the teacher.

“A couple of weeks after the suspension, I would arrive at school and see him and his friends just sitting by the gate.
When I opened a restraining order against him, he still made sure I saw him around the school, even at a distance.”

She said the traumatic experience had kept her out of the classroom since 2019. Videos on social media of pupils harassing teachers were an indication of how teachers were treated by pupils on a daily basis, she said, adding the violence was not only in high schools but primary schools as well.

“I’ve heard teachers at some schools around Ga-Rankuwa [near Pretoria] complaining about the violence they have endured from pupils. And not just female teachers but male teachers as well,” she added.

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Bullying in schools was not addressed adequately and there were many incidents which were not reported or swept under the carpet.

“Schools in South Africa find it difficult to manage the problem of [pupil] violence, and now it is spiralling out of control. Schools are no longer safe places for teachers and [pupils].”

The South African Democratic Teachers Union has launched the “I am a School Fan” campaign against violence in schools, aimed at mobilising all stakeholders – parents, teachers, pupils and government departments to address school violence in all its forms.”

– reitumetsem@citizen.co.za