Schools must be crime-free zones
“Think about your future, not decisions that excite you now.”
KwaThema – The Modderbee Prison Men’s Forum, in partnership with KwaThema SAPS, aims to make schools crime-free zones.
The learners of Zimisele Secondary School were greeted with a random search by officials from Modderbee Prison on Friday morning.
“We are not here as your enemies but as parents who care.
“Not too long ago we were in the position you are in right now and we needed guidance,” says Zakhele Shabalala, the chairperson of the forum.
Shabalala says they condemn the acts of violence by learners, which were recently circulated on social media.
“The things we see are horrendous and they didn’t happen in our time when we were young.
“You have to be respectful.”
He says that the forum’s desire is to see learners become officials and statesmen in the future.
Albert Mndebele, a drug education facilitator, warned the learners against addiction and drug abuse.
“We all know at least one person who does drugs.
“Be careful of peer pressure because most of the time the drug is introduced by a person in the group.”
He challenged the learners to identify a successful person they knew to be educated, and who has a family but was on drugs.
“Think about your future, not decisions that excite you now.
“If you need help to get off drugs, please reach out for help. Go to the police. They do care about you,” he added.
Captain Thabo Sibuyi, who is from the KwaThema Police Station says they will work tirelessly to ensure that schools are safe and learners adhere to the rules.
“We need to ensure that our learners and teachers are safe at school.
“Parents can help by notifying us if they suspect any criminal behaviour.”
The officials confiscated many clothing items that did not adhere to the code of conduct.
“We are happy to say that we did not find any weapons on the learners,” says Shabalala.
He does admit that they are concerned about the number of learners who had cigarettes.
“And some of them reeked of ‘zol’, which is marijuana,” he says.
Schools are invited to request searches by contacting Captain Thabo Sibuyi on 011 812 4600 or Zakhelele Shabalala on 011 360 8000.
Also read: Police conduct surprise school searches
