Children safe at Free State schools – MEC
The Free State department of education is working with police to ensure the safety of learners after schools were targeted when alleged gang violence erupted in Heidedal and parts of Mangaung last week.
Provincial Education MEC Tate Makgoe said schooling had returned to normal after the incident last Wednesday and pleaded with parents to send their children to school, Bloemfontein Courantreported.
Heidedal police station commander Colonel Edward Kruger, along with various community leaders also assured parents, at a public meeting at the Clive Solomon Stadium in the area yesterday, their children would be safe at school this week.
Department spokesperson Howard Ndaba last week said exams were disrupted at Petunia Secondary School when a group of young people who call themselves the Romans, armed with pangas and other objects, wanted to enter the school premises.
Meanwhile, twelve people arrested in connection with gang violence that erupted in Mangaung will appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Two people died last week following a spate of violence linked to three gangs: Born to Kill, Romans and Triple Six. The gangs had allegedly been going to various schools last week, threatening to kill pupils.
Free State police spokesperson Brigadier Billy Jones said in one incident, a man was stabbed to death at Freedom Square.
On Wednesday, tavern owner Makgaola Seatile was attacked by a group carrying dangerous weapons in Phase 4. He died at the scene.
”On Friday, a joint police operation comprising of the Tactical Response Team (TRT), Crime Intelligence and the HAWKS led investigators to houses in Heidedal, Peter Swart and Phase 2 where the suspects were arrested,” said Jones.
The men, aged between 20 and 40, face charges of murder, illegal possession of firearms and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
– Caxton News Service
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