Units belonging to the JMPD’s Community Outreach and Operation in Region C were out in full force on the morning of 20 January.
Roodepoort Operations Inspector Jeniffer Mabota, Sergeant Ronny Segale, Officers Ouma Morudi, Tshidiso Monareng and the rest of their teams were on hand for the mission. Their mission was to educate schools and parents about the importance of scholar patrols, and to give a final warning to learner transport drivers to not loiter around schools with school children.
Their first stop was Horizon View Primary School where they trained the senior scholar patrol pupils on how to keep the traffic in front of the school’s gates orderly and their fellow learners safe from harm. Parents were also invited to observe as some of the complaints that have come from the school towards the parents is the lack of respect for scholar patrols.
Morudi was instrumental in getting her message across to the different stakeholders.
“Most of the seniors who were scholar patrollers have now left for High School so we have to train new learners. However, I want to appeal to parents to respect these scholar patrols. We have heard of incidents where parents would swear at the scholar patrols for doing their duties because they want to rush to work,” she said.
The mission also included members of the Siyazifukula Learner Transport Association who tagged along, and chairperson Bheki Ziqubu was pleased with how well the training proceeded.
“Things went well at the school. The learners were happy to be trained, especially when it comes to helping their fellow learners cross the road safely. This is especially true for the Grade 1 pupils who are new to the school. We want to avoid accidents at all costs. We as Siyazifukula are happy to help out because we transport these children from home to school and want to ensure their safety,” he said.
The mission then went to South Road near the Witpoortjie Clinic where taxi drivers wait to transport learners from Hoërskool Die Adelaar and Princess High School.
“Some of the taxi drivers skip school with the learners, drinking alcohol and having fun instead of being at school and getting an education. This has been going on long enough and it needs to stop. They cannot be exposing our children to such things. And the extra beer crate, overloading of children in the taxi and boot needs to stop as well. This is our final warning to the taxi drivers,” said Morudi.
Community Outreach and Operation then went onto Westgate Mall where they also warned the taxi drivers in the area about their unruly driving habits.
Schools who want assistance with their scholar patrol or any information can contact Ouma Morudi on 076 720 0871.
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