OPINION: One child’s death, is one too many
For the 17-year-old boy, however, the attention of the relevant stakeholders would only be captured following his terrible and untimely death.
Highvelder set the tone when it published a story on May 5 detailing the daily hazards facing the learners of Cebisa Secondary School.
In addition to the very real hazards posed by live electrical wires on the schoolgrounds and health and sanitation concerns, the most critical issue reported was gangsterism.
Just a month prior to Highvelder visiting Cebisa Secondary, schools in Wesselton were closed after seven knife-wielding men infiltrated and terrorised learners and teachers.
As I consider the 17-year-old learner who was fatally stabbed on August 16, I think about how this was such an unnecessary death that might have been prevented if there had been earlier intervention.
Top pupils had conveyed their fears about the likelihood of such an occurrence to the publication during its visit to the school and the school governing body pleaded with the Department of Education to step in on numerous occasions.
For the 17-year-old boy, however, the attention of the relevant stakeholders would only be captured following his terrible and untimely death.
As the community, family and friends grieve the young boy’s death, stakeholders have finally arrived wishing to express their condolences.
If they had instead intervened, would this horrible killing not have been prevented? Or is Wesselton’s gang culture so pervasive that the death of a child was inevitable?
I believe that any action by them would have at the very least served as a deterrent.
Crying over spilled milk won’t alter the course of history, but if drastic action is not taken now, a future occurrence cannot be ruled out.
I pray that this death won’t be in vain and that parents, teachers, local law enforcement and role players everywhere will work together to address the very real problem of gangsterism in our town’s schools, as one child’s death is one too many.
