VIDEO: Hands off our schools, east learners warn criminals
Stop vandalizing our schools in Nellmapius.
Learners, teachers and the community came out in support of the #Notoburglaries campaign in Nellmapius on Friday.
The campaign was organised by Vukuzenzele Primary School in Nellmapius extension 3 after the school had experienced several burglaries since last year.
The participants were joined by the Silverton police, CPF and the ward 86 councillor Thabo Ntlatleng on the march around the neighbourhood to say “enough is enough with burglaries at our schools” while learners called for the end to crime and vandalism of schools.
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Deputy principal Sivuyile Twaise said the school had been broken in numerous times since last year.
“Textbooks, the pots used in the learners’ feeding scheme, electricity cables, stationery and printing paper have been stolen.
“The school is losing a lot of money and replacing the stolen goods,” Twaise said.
“We now have to budget for repairing damaged or stolen school property, [which is] delaying and destroying the future of these learners because they are the future leaders of this country.”
Twaise said the aim of the campaign was to ask the community to look after and stop destroying school property.
Ntlatleng said he was disappointed by the turnout “because in Nellmapius we have more than one school and we were expecting other schools to join the campaign and spread the message together”.
“The problem of burglaries in Nellmapius does not affect Vukuzenzele Primary School but the other schools in Nellmapius.”
Ntlatleng said he has adopted the school and pledged to invest in education.
Sergeant Judith Hlatswayo of Silverton police station said the police had handed out pamphlets to raise the awareness of the scourge of school burglaries and encouraged the public not to buy stolen goods.
Hlatswayo said buying stolen goods was also a criminal offence.
“The public need to be eyes and ears of the police and work with them in the fight against crime within the community,” said Hlatswayo.
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Local Brenda Mokone, who took part in the campaign, said the people vandalising schools were from the community and particularly blamed drug dealers.
“They are the ones who are creating the monsters who are destroying the future of these learners,” she said.
Mokone urged the police to arrest the drug dealers, adding that the community needed to stand together and to fight crime in their different locations.
Watch the video:
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