Minerva invaders arrested, but not charged for invasion
The suspects in the Minerva High School invasion have managed to dodge charges linked to the incident because the learner they allegedly wanted to attack is refusing to press charges.
The safety of Minerva High School learners was compromised on May 20 when armed outsiders stormed the premises, allegedly targeting a male learner.
Although authorities swiftly arrested the suspects before they could locate the learner, they later revealed that they could only charge the intruders for a prior offence, because the learner who was targeted refused to open a case.
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Office of the Visual Policing (VisPol) Support, Commander Lieutenant-Colonel Ramathetje Makgati, confirmed that three suspects had been apprehended, not four as initially reported by parents. She added the suspects were arrested for a different incident, in which they allegedly attacked a group of friends, leaving a single boy with a cut to his neck and face. “Each case requires complainants to identify suspects. Since the Minerva learner refused to open a docket, we cannot charge the suspects for the Minerva incident.”
Makgati was reluctant to comment on what caused the incident at the school, noting that there was confusion about what transpired, and she did not want to mislead the community. Some parents alleged that the conflict was caused by a female Minerva learner’s romantic involvement with the male learner in her class, as well as one of the intruders, but this claim was not confirmed by the police.
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After spending time in the principal’s office, getting information on the matter, EFF chairperson in Ward 76 Clive Mogale briefed the parents. He said the outsiders, one armed with a knife, had been loitering outside the school. “The female learner recognised them and asked what they were doing there. They told her they came for the boy in her class.” Mogale noted, further explaining that when the female learner got into the class and warned the male learner about the outsiders, he allegedly slapped her, accusing her of orchestrating the planned attack.
“The female learner ran out of the class to tell the patrollers that she had been slapped. That was when the suspects overheard the conversation, and forced their way into the school, but they did not get to him. When they entered the school, the principal urged people to call the police, and the suspects were arrested,” Mogale explained. The female learner has also not pressed any charges against the male learner who assaulted her.
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