With 12 million learners having returned to schools for 2024, the Mpumalanga MEC for education, Bonakele Majuba, visited Moduping Secondary School in Marite near Hazyview on Wednesday January 17.

Majuba was accompanied by the deputy minister of basic education, Dr Reginah Mhaule, and representatives from the Department of Justice and Correctional Services, to monitor the school’s reopening.

The delegation engaged with education stakeholders in the area regarding social ills and crime affecting schools, which negatively impacted teaching and learning.

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The South African Democratic Teachers Union’s Marite branch also highlighted the robberies and other crimes affecting the Marite Circuit schools, during the visit.

Majuba called upon communities to work together with the government departments and law enforcement agencies to address crime and normalise learning and teaching in the area. He said the department is hopeful that an integrated approach will yield positive results and instil a sense of stability for teachers and learners to focus on teaching and learning.

“Schools need to be protected by community members working with the police to make sure learners and educators are safe at all times. Most of these criminals stay within the community, and we have the power to stop the school attacks by reporting them to police and making sure they arrest the perpetrators,” he said.

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He also said that under no circumstances should schools in the province withhold stationery.

“The view of the department is that the stationery has been assessed and is adequate to enable learning and teaching throughout the year. To this end there must be no instance in which parents must be compelled to dig deep into their pockets to add to the already provided stationery.

This applies mainly to the no-fees schools, quintiles 1 to 3, within the province. The no-fees schools receive a subsidy from the department to enable them to buy additional resources for their day-to-day running. It is unjustifiable for them to demand that parents pay for certain resources,” he stressed.

Mhaule said she decided to join the MEC in Marite at it is considered a crime hotspot and she wanted to assure learners that they are protected, and also make sure that they do not join the criminals.

“We are also telling the learners not to join what is happening in the community. We also want to tell them that they must not do what their brothers are doing outside. We are teaching the kids not to get involved in crime and are working with all stakeholders to make sure that they combat crime in the area,” she said.