Four up for burning classrooms – pupils face arson charges

sowetan.co.za

15 April 2010

FOUR pupils were due to appear in the Malmesbury magistrate’s court yesterday after they allegedly set three classrooms on fire, Cape Town police said.

Police spokesperson Henry Duran said the police were patrolling the area around the Naphakade Secondary School to prevent a repeat of Tuesday’s incident, which unfolded after pupils complained they did not want to share their classrooms with primary school pupils .

“The situation is under control and the school opened this morning,” Duran said.

Western Cape MEC for education Donald Grant condemned the incident, claiming that plans were already under way to build a new high school in the area.

“The violent actions of the learners were not only unlawful, but wholly unnecessary since the Western Cape education department had prioritised the construction of a new school in the area in its infrastructure plan,” Grant said.

“It is important to emphasise that the construction of a new high school in Malmesbury was part of our planning and we will not be forced by communities to change our infrastructure development plans in response to violent actions.”

The four pupils , aged 16, 18, 20 and 21 were charged with public violence and arson. – Sapa

Protestors, police clash in the Swartland

eyewitnessnews.co.za

15 04 2010

There were further clashes between police and rioting students on Wednesday in Malmesbury in the Swartland.

Learners of the combined Naphakade Primary and Secondary School started protesting on Tuesday over lack of classrooms and associated overcrowding.

Protests continued on Wednesday morning and police were forced to fire rubber bullets in the last hour to disperse protestors.

Police reinforcements were also brought in from elsewhere in the province and began to force people away from the streets.

Angry learners threw rocks and stones at police, who were forced to retaliate and fire rubber bullets at crowds.

The learners said they want the Education Department to build separate facilities for the primary and high school.

They were complaining about overcrowding, which they claimed makes it difficult for them to concentrate during lessons.

They said the department had not fulfilled numerous promises made in the past.

Protestors vandalised the existing school buildings, breaking windows and setting four classrooms alight.

Frustrations were then turned on the journalists present, who were accused of being police spies.

DEPARTMENT CONDEMNS ACTIONS BY LEARNERS

The Basic Education Departmenton Wednesday condemned the violence.

The department said Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga was very concerned about the situation.

“The minister sympathises with their concerns. Resorting to violence, the destruction of property and the disruption of school is unacceptable,” said the department’s Hope Mokgatle.

(Edited by Danya Philander)

Malmesbury pupils continue violent protests

iol.co.za

April 15 2010

By Caryn Dolley

Extra mobile classrooms should have been delivered to the overcrowded Naphakade Secondary and Primary schools, but failure to do so has caused the pupils to continue violent protests for a second day.

On Wednesday night, a heavy police contingent monitored the volatile community surrounding the schools, which share the same buildings and where pupils are suspected to have set alight two more classrooms.

They are upset about overcrowding at the schools, where 61 pupils are crammed into classes.

On Wednesday night, Education MEC Donald Grant’s spokeswoman Bronagh Casey said extra mobile classrooms should have been delivered to the schools earlier this year, but because of « delays at the Department of Public Works » this had not happened.
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Strong police presence at Malmesbury school following violence

.eyewitnessnews.co.za

Malungelo Booi | 15 04 2010

There was a strong police presence outside the Malmesbury Magistrate Court, where four school pupils appeared on Wednesday.

They are among the scores of learners who went on the rampage at the Naphakade Secondary school on Tuesday – protesting over overcrowding at the institution.

The institution’s governing body said it does not condone violence but is adamant education officials are to blame for the situation.

Learners burnt down two of their classrooms and smashed every window in the building.

The pupils are demanding the department fulfil promises it made several years ago of providing a new school.

The Naphakade Primary and Secondary school share the same premises and teachers say it is difficult to work under such conditions.

STUDENTS ATTEND COUNSELLING

Meanwhile, two of the four Malmesbury school pupils facing charges of arson and public violence have been consulting with social workers.

At the same time, protests broke out once again at the school where fire fighters were called in after learners set alight a third of their nine classrooms.

The learners say they are unable to study due to overcrowding.

(Edited by Ayanda Mahanjana)

Close riot school – cops

thestar.co.za

14 April 2010

By Kowthar Solomons
Staff Reporter

Police asked the Western Cape Education Department today to close a Malmesbury school after its pupils set fire to classrooms yesterday.

After the incident, residents and pupils clashed with police for several hours. During the chaos, residents also started looting Somali owned shops.

This morning Malmesbury police spokesman Constable Henry du Rand said police were outside the Naphakade Primary and Secondary School, monitoring the situation.

Du Rand said the police had asked the department to close the schools and was waiting for their decision. He said, however, he had been told by the school that classes would continue as normal.

Also, Du Rand said a group of 30 people vandalised several Somali-owned shops and demanded cash.

« We cannot guarantee these people’s safety. We have advised Somali shopkeepers to leave their stores and stay with family away from the area until we are certain the area is safe, » said Du Rand.

Yesterday, about 30 police vehicles arrived with officers in full riot gear after about 250 pupils from the two schools, housed in one building, started setting fire to classrooms to protest against overcrowding.

More than 1 500 pupils on both primary and high school level are forced to share 25 classrooms. Pupils demanded the education department build another school.

Teachers tried for several hours to persuade pupils to leave but failed. Police then stormed the school.

As officers forced pupils off the school grounds, residents gathered outside trying to stop police from removing the pupils.

Once all the pupils were outside the school grounds a resident threw a stone at police.

Police then began firing rubber bullets and stun grenades at the crowd of about 300 people.

Pupil Zondo Busa, 17, said he was forced to run into a nearby house for cover.

« I just got outside the gates and everyone was screaming for the police to leave. Then suddenly a rock came flying towards the police and they just started firing, I ran across the road and into the first house I could see. »

Police continued to shoot as more and more residents began throwing stones at them.

The crowd dispersed after a short while, but remained in smaller groups in the vicinity of the school.

After a second volley of stones, police left the school grounds and fired shots into the groups to disperse them. A section of the crowd then started burning tyres in the the road outside the school.

They aggravated the situation and police « came in full force, clearing the streets and forcing residents into their homes », said community leader Neil Niemand.

Police vehicles attempting to pass through or enter the area were stoned.

By 6pm tensions had eased and most residents headed home. Du Rand said four suspects, aged between 16 and 21, were arrested for public violence and arson.

« This whole thing is a shame. The students had a legitimate cause and they went about it the wrong way and it ended in this, » said Niemand.

According to Niemand, the school has become a haven for drugs, violence and sex abuse.

« We’ve had numerous cases of rape at the school. Over the last two months at least three schoolgirls were raped on the premises with the youngest victim being seven years old.

« This is not the type of thing young people should be around and the Education Department needs to step in and do something. »

Du Rand said the police had gone in with a « soft » attitude but should another incident like this occur police would come down hard.

Last night a group of about 100 angry pupils and parents marched around the community, and gathered outside of the school, under heavy police guard.

About six police vans and several police officers kitted in riot gear left the premises at 7.30pm.

A meeting had been arranged with the governing body and parents at 6pm. By 9pm, none of the school officials had arrived.

Bronagh Casey, spokeswoman for MEC Donald Grant, said today that a new high school in the area had been budgeted for and was ready to go out for tender.

The department was doing everything possible to ensure that a new school would be ready for 2012. They would also do everything they could to ensure the safety of the pupils.

Cape school kids run riot

thestar.co.za

14 April 2010, 07:16

Hundreds of Malmesbury school pupils have gone on the rampage, setting classrooms alight and throwing stones at police, firefighters, ambulances and the media in protest at chronic overcrowding.

Naphakade Secondary and Primary schools have to share buildings. Neighbourhood watch member Elsabe Jacobs said there were 25 classrooms and about 61 pupils crammed into each.

The situation was so tense police in Malmesbury called for help from their provincial head office, asking that armoured personnel carriers patrol the streets instead of ordinary police vehicles.

Late last night police reported that a number of Somali shopkeepers had been attacked and robbed and their shops vandalised. Police do not suspect xenophobia and say a criminal element exploited the protest.

Earlier the Cape Times team had to take refuge in an ambulance to escape the stones and rubber bullets.

Education Department officials met last night to discuss the situation. It was not clear if the two schools would be open today.

Four pupils, some dragged from shacks in which they had been hiding, were arrested during the clashes and accused of public violence and starting fires in the school grounds.

They are expected to appear in court today or tomorrow.

A police officer and a firefighter were injured, but none of the pupils reported injuries.

Throughout the day the hundreds of protesting pupils, some of them primary school children, threw stones and bricks at heavily armed police officers.

They were demanding that the department provide separate buildings for the high school. The police almost continuously fired rubber bullets into the volatile Phola Park informal settlement.

At one stage a police officer, positioned in a van with a rifle ready to shoot at residents, fell out of the vehicle and almost landed in a barricade of burning tyres manned by the pupils and residents.

The protests began in the school grounds shortly after pupils arrived early yesterday and spread into the community.

Some set alight a classroom, two toilets and a security guard’s hut.

When police and firefighters arrived, the pupils threw stones at them, preventing them from entering the premises.

Malmesbury police spokesman Henry du Rand said a brick smashed the windscreen of a fire engine and the driver was slightly injured.

Many of the primary school pupils had left the grounds, but most of the high school pupils had refused to budge, he said.

When a Cape Times team arrived at the school, hundreds of the pupils could be seen toyi-toying in the grounds.

« Burn this place down, » some shouted.

A short while later a group of residents began toyi-toying in an area facing the pupils.

Heavily armed police officers stood between the groups warning them to stop.

The situation had then calmed, but the pupils refused to leave the school grounds.

Only after scores of police vans lined the street – which was covered in stones and glass shards – did they allow two fire engines into the grounds.

A while later scores of police vans entered the school grounds and riot police officers, clutching shields, barred the main entrance.

Dozens more, with rifles at the ready, surrounded the grounds.

The police then told the hundreds of pupils to leave the school in single file.

This proceeded smoothly until officers fired rubber bullets at pupils milling around outside the grounds. The pupils retaliated by throwing stones at the police and reporters.

This reporter tried to duck behind a parked bakkie, but when the stones became too numerous to dodge, moved to crouch behind an ambulance with another reporter.

When rubber bullets were then fired, the reporters leapt into the ambulance. Seconds later a barrage of stones could be heard hitting the vehicle. Outside the ambulance residents could be seen running in all directions.

Police officers then walked slowly down the streets, firing rubber bullets when they felt necessary. « Stay inside. Get inside or you’ll get hurt. Ja, you must run, » the police shouted.

They also threw a stun grenade at what appeared to be a group of teachers leaving the school grounds.

Earlier, a pupil said the school was used for high and primary school pupils.

« This affects our schooling. It’s stuffy in those classrooms and we’re crammed in. »

She said the pupils had sent the Education Department a letter listing their complaints, but had not had a response.

This had led to the protests.

Adam Afrikaner, grand-father of a Grade 7 pupil, said: « I support them. It’s the only way they’re going to get a better environment for education. »

Education MEC Donald Grant said the pupils’ behaviour was « unacceptable ».

« It is most unfortunate the actions of a few caused us to temporarily close the school. Naphakade High is part of our school building programme. The tender for construction of a new high school will be going out shortly. »

Grant’s spokeswoman, Bronagh Casey, was not aware of any letter of complaint from pupils.

Du Rand said late last night that shopkeepers had been robbed.

« About 30 youngsters began assaulting foreigners, most of them Somalis, robbing them and vandalising shops and robbing foreign shopkeepers …

« The situation at the school is still tense, but now we have a criminal element. We’ve received reports there is violence directed at foreigners. »

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za

Informations

The Swartland begins some 50 kilometres north of Cape Town and consists of the regions between the towns of Malmesbury in the south, Darling in the west, Piketberg in the north and the Riebeek West and Riebeek Kasteel in the east

~ par Alain Bertho sur 16 avril 2010.

Publié dans émeutes, riots