GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Even though the Western Cape Department of Education provided 417 schools with holiday security over the June/July school holidays, 42 schools have reported incidents of vandalism and burglary - five of which are in the Eden and Central Karoo Education District.

According to Western Cape Minister of Education David Maynier, this is a small increase compared to the same holidays last year, when 38 schools reported incidents.

Maynier said the department cannot provide the names of schools reporting incidents as this would constitute a security risk to those schools. "Fortunately, almost all of the incidents were minor in nature. 

Items stolen or damaged included bathroom fixtures, fencing, solar panels, consumables such as stationery and cleaning materials, tablets and ICT equipment, security and electrical equipment, and bicycles. Criminals even looted packs of sanitary pads and first-aid kits," he said.

One major incident involved damages estimated at over R121 000 and the total cost of all the incidents is estimated at R808 600, with the estimates for some of the incidents still outstanding.

"This means that nearly a million rand that could have been spend on educating our learners now must be spent on fixing wanton damage," Maynier said.

"Of particular concern is that some of the schools that fell victim to crime over the holidays had security guards, cameras, and other security features in place. We need to better understand what our schools need to ensure that they are safe from criminal attacks."

He said community participation plays a pivotal role in keeping schools safe. 

"One of our World's Best Schools finalists, West End Primary School [Lentegeur, Cape Town], has not been vandalised in 10 years, despite its location in a community battling various socio-economic issues. I intend to visit the school and others like it that have mobilised the surrounding community to take ownership of and protect the schools of the Western Cape."

The cases have been reported to the police, and Maynier will seek a meeting with the provincial police commissioner, Lieut-Gen Thembisile Patekile, to discuss progress on these and other previous cases reported by schools and the department. 

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