Teaching in gang-riddled Manenberg means being prepared for gunshots at any time of the day.
|||Cape Town - Teaching in gang-riddled Manenberg means being prepared for gunshots at any time of the day.
A teacher who has worked at a primary school in Manenberg for six years said there were many times when she wanted to pack her bags and leave. The woman, who asked not to be named, said teachers were expected to continue as normal in abnormal circumstances.
“I have to protect the kids that are left in my care from 8am to 1.30pm and then I have to endanger my life even further until 3.30pm.”
The teacher says everyone at the school is tense.
“I don’t know if it is just at our school that teachers feel this way, but I have had enough.
“At any time you are alarmed by raining gunshots and having children shielded under tables that are no good because the walls are chipboard… a bullet can hit you right through the classroom wall.”
At another school, Leon Beukes, principal of Sonderend Primary said teaching was back to normal on Monday after only 10 percent of pupils attended school last Thursday.
Last week, three classes of Grade 1 pupils had to duck for cover when smashed through their classroom windows.
Beukes said it was extremely difficult to be a principal in Manenberg.
“You must have guts to be a principal in this area. I admire my teachers and staff. All we need now is peace. They (gangsters) need to stop this senseless shooting.”
Beukes added that the school caretaker, Graham Jaftha, had surgery to his leg after he was wounded last Wednesday. “The blood circulation is not good in his leg.”
Beukes added that parents often sought answers from teachers when gang violence broke out.
“Parents must understand that it’s safer for children to be in the school building than at home.”
Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, said the city intended deploying school resource officers to schools in the Manenberg area “this forthcoming week” to ensure the safety of pupils.
natasha.bezuidenhout@inl.co.za
Cape Argus
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