Cape Town - Just a few hours after the school day commenced, hundreds of learners could be seen leaving school following an early dismissal as a result of the ongoing rampant violence related to the taxi strike.
Soon after the announcement of the immediate taxi-industry strike, thousands of learners reliant on public transport were left stranded last week, and several could be seen queueing for public transport during the late hours of the night on Thursday.
Western Cape Education MEC David Maynier said the strike kept more than 287420 children home, and prevented 9508 teachers and staff from going to school on Friday.
Yesterday, that number had risen to 456020 learners and 17449 staff members, with the Cape Town metro education districts the worst affected. Twenty-seven schools in the metro east, north, and south had to close on Monday.
Decisions to close selected schools will be taken daily.
“Unfortunately, rumours that schools were being targeted and burned spread wildly this morning, resulting in panic and confusion. No school has reported such an incident,” Maynier said.
Last week, Maynier acknowledged the kindness and responsiveness from school communities and the public in response to witnessing the stranded learners.
Mowbray residents assisted 11 learners from Thandokhulu High School with food and sleeping materials.
WCED officials arranged for four learners from Silverlea Primary School and Garlandale High School, residing in Khayelitsha, to be placed into a guest house, given meals and toiletries.
Sixteen learners attending Noluthando School for the Deaf residing in Khayelitsha, spent the night at a teacher’s home. Wynberg Girls’ High School opened its hostel to learners and staff, with 15 learners and five security guards spending the night.
“We urge our school communities to report any harassment or intimidation of learners being transported to school, so that we can take the appropriate legal action,” Maynier said.
A member of the Western Cape Scholar Transport Association said they last transported learners on Thursday.
“We haven’t been threatened, but we decided to suspend our services for the safety of the kids since we struggled to take them back on Thursday afternoon because of traffic jams and burning roads.”
SA Democratic Teachers’ Union provincial secretary Sibongile Kwazi said: “A number of our teachers will not be able to attend school today (yesterday) because the red areas, as indicated by the City of Cape Town, are the areas in which most of our members work. We’ve informed them that they should consider their safety first before doing heroic acts of attending school.
“This shows exactly the great divide between the haves and those who do not have because it’s only the working class schools that are affected by the taxi violence.”
Kwazi called on the City of Cape Town and taxi associations to reach an agreement to restore a sense of normality.