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Sunday Independent reports that violent attacks on teachers seem to be on the increase in SA as yet another teacher was attacked by a Grade 11 pupil and her parents at Setjhaba se Maketse Combined School in Botshabelo on Friday.
The teacher sustained injuries and his laptop was damaged during the attack. While some educators say what is happening to the teachers is a reflection of the violent nature of South African society, there are also unconfirmed reports that the killings could be a result of competition for positions among teachers themselves. The attack on the Botshabelo teacher came a few weeks after the brutal killing of a deputy principal, Thembisile Ngendane, who was shot and killed outside Phomolong Secondary School in Tembisa, allegedly by three armed men. Education activist Hendrick Makaneta commented: “The ministry needs to set up a very strong task team that can focus on such killings, with a view to apprehending the perpetrators, but also to crack down on this ongoing issue.” He added that the number of cases on the ground were not always reported, with the result that the severity of the issue was often underestimated. “At the end of the day, it boils down to the strategy of the government on how to protect teachers and principals in schools. This is a cause for concern, and as activists we have been calling on the government to clamp down on this (attacks on teachers). The issue of policing is a cause for concern. We don't see police on the ground, (and we also note) how unions exacerbate the situation with their tendencies (towards) forwarding their own members for posts,” Makaneta said.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Amanda Maliba at Sunday Independent
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