397 schools vandalised since start of Covid-19 lockdown

The Department of Basic Education is concerned that 397 schools have been vandalised around the country since the Covid-19 lockdown started.

In Mpumalanga 73 schools were damaged, followed by Gauteng with 67, Western Cape 57, North West 55, Northern Cape 39, KwaZulu-Natal 34, Limpopo 30, Eastern Cape 26 and Free State 16.

According to the department, damage caused due to torching and theft at schools will have a negative impact on the implementation of the recovery plan once the lockdown is lifted.

In all the burglaries, learning and teaching equipment and other expensive items have been stolen. The targeted areas are the administration blocks for information communication technology equipment and the nutrition centres for food items.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has condemned the incidents of vandalism, burglary and destruction of schools.

The minister has welcomed the arrest of 44 suspects thus far in Gauteng, including those found in possession of stolen property linked to school break-ins in the province. Two arrests were also made in KwaZulu-Natal in the last 24 hours.

“It is really unfortunate that criminals in our communities destroy the infrastructure of their own children. We applaud the work done by the police and we hope that more arrests will be made. We want to see the arrest and prosecution of every single criminal responsible for this kind of behaviour,” said Minister Motshekga.

She added that communities were supposed to be caretakers of the infrastructure that government had put in place for the education of children. “These criminals must be reported to the police immediately. Let us work together to safeguard the future of our children by exposing these criminal elements,” she said.