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New school safety interventions to be implemented

The Gauteng Provincial Legislature Portfolio Committee on Community Safety urges government departments to implement the Focused Intervention Study (FIS).

The Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Community Safety released a statement on January 14 urging various government departments to implement the Focused Intervention Study (FIS) recommendations on school safety.

The statement was issued by the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Community Safety, the Honourable Bandile Masuku.

Masuku stated, “The FIS, titled ‘Assessing the Effectiveness of School Safety Interventions in Fighting Crime in Gauteng Schools’, was tabled and formally adopted during a house sitting of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in 2024 and was jointly conducted by the Portfolio Committees on Community Safety and Education due to the prevalence of violent crimes in Gauteng schools.”

The FIS focused on assessing the effectiveness of programmes aimed at creating safer learning environments at schools across Gauteng. The objectives included investigating factors that contribute to violence in schools, the level of implementation of safety plans, the multi-disciplinary diversion programmes, and the impact of the Adopt-a-Cop programme.

Both Committees of the Legislature visited various schools among the 75 high-risk schools in Gauteng to gather data for the FIS. They also conducted stakeholder engagement sessions with education and safety sector stakeholders.

“Some of the joint committee’s findings exposed shocking realities of learners carrying dangerous weapons, illicit substances being abused on school premises and disturbing incidents of bullying, gangsterism and tribalism leaving both learners and educators at risk,” said Masuku.

The recommendations made to the government departments to prevent further tragedies include:

• The Department of Community Safety in collaboration with Law enforcement Agencies must enhance the random school search interventions to curb violent behaviour including the carrying of dangerous weapons and the use of illicit substances by learners at schools

• The Department of Education, jointly with the Department of Community Safety, must strengthen the deployment of security personnel such as Gauteng Traffic Wardens, security guards, or patrollers to enhance visible policing and maintain law and order at schools. Also, efforts must be made to install CCTV cameras to ensure that learners, educators, and school physical environments are completely safeguarded

• The Departments of Community Safety, Education and Social Development jointly develop and implement a multidisciplinary strategy to curb the scourge of illegal substance and drug abuse within school premises

“The relevant departments have been given until February 28 to submit an integrated report to the legislature on all the recommendations contained in the FIS report. The committee warns that failure to act on these recommendations could lead to escalating violence, further endangering the future of Gauteng learners and educators,” Masuku concluded.

The FIS report is available at https://www.gpl.gov.za/fis-report-on-school-safety-interventions/.

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