162 pupils allegedly abducted from North West school

162 pupils from the Tirelong Secondary School in North West have allegedly been abducted by a mob pretending to be parents.

The Tirelong Secondary School was vandalised during the December 2021 school recess and the the criminals stole electricity cables, water taps, school roof, books, window frames, doors and kitchen utensils.

The school was left with no running water and electricity.

When schools reopened, the pupils were relocated to Moedwil, Naauwpoort and Boons Mega Farm schools.

According to the North West department of education on Wednesday, the abduction happened on Tuesday night at around 8pm where a group of “drunken mob” pretending to be parents arrived at the Boons Mega Farm School in two Combis, one half truck and a small bakkie.

“When the perpetrators arrived at the gate, they found the security guards and they refused to produce their identities to indicate whether they were genuine parents of learners or not. A commotion ensued when they could not produce proof of identity and they broke the small gate of the school,” said the department.

“The security succeeded in denying them access to the school. They then blew whistles to give signal to the pupils who were inside the hostels. After the 162 pupils received the signal, they broke the hostel doors, windows and burglars to force their way out. They moved in numbers forcing and threatening others to leave the school premises. Once the 162 pupils got out of their hostel, they were transported by the perpetrators.”

The 162 pupils were transported in five loads and the last group left around 5am. The department has arranged counseling for the remaining 10 pupils who refused to leave without their parents’ permission.

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“As a department we are very disappointed by such a horrible incident that is continuing to raise its ugly head in our boarding schools. This need to be stopped immediately, the people behind these incidents must be arrested. They removed learners from our schools under the pretext of parents when they are not the real parents. We are in possession of video clips to substantiate that these were not parents,” said MEC for Education Mmaphefo Matsemela.

“What is disturbing us more is that they don’t take the pupils to their homes, they leave them on the streets. They expose the lives of our children to extreme danger. We want the police to arrest everyone involved in this unaccepted practice.”

According to the department, this is the second incident to happen at the boarding school.

The first incident happened at Naauwpoort Mega Farm School and 54 pupils were abducted on Monday.

A case of malicious damage to property and abduction has been opened with the police.