A surprise raid and bodily search on learners at Dalpark Secondary School in Brakpan led to the discovery and confiscation of contraband including dagga, cigarettes and vapes from some of the pupils.
Spokesperson for the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) Lieutenant Colonel Kelebogile Thepa said working together with other law enforcement agencies including the South African Police and the Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens colloquially referred to as amaPanyaza, the programme of raiding schools and physically searching learners is steaming ahead, and yielding positive results.
The campaign aims to stymie violence, gangsterism and bullying in schools.
“The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department’s social crime prevention unit officers in conjunction with the SAPS, community police forum and the Crime Prevention Wardens are hitting the schools very hard with surprise school visits to conduct searches,” said Thepa.
She added that the sporadic visits seek to ensure safer school environments.
“This joint venture seeks to address the burning issue of violence at schools relating to bullying, gangsterism and substance abuse. Officers proceeded to Dalpark Secondary School where all learners were hit by surprise and summoned to step out of their classrooms for a bodily search to be conducted as well as on all school bags,” said Thepa.
“Among the sinister items discovered were sharp scissors, vape pipes, one ziplock packet dagga, two ready-made dagga puffs, cigarettes, and boxes of matches.”
The contraband from Dalpark Secondary School was booked in at the Brakpan police station while the learners were engaged by police on the dangers and consequences of substance abuse.
“The EMPD commends the partnership with other law enforcement agencies, to help curb illicit substances reaching the school premises,” said Thepa.
Last year, IOL reported that during a raid at the Brakpan Primary School, police officers seized four pairs of sharp scissors and one packet of dagga from the primary school learners.
During a prior raid at Dowerglen Secondary School in Ekurhuleni, the police also searched scholar transport vehicles outside the school yard.
A packet of condoms was among the items found and seized.
“During the intervention, members (police officers) discovered two packets of dagga, three scissors, one e-cigarette, one packet of condoms, and two ziplock bags of dagga abandoned on the school grounds,” Thepa said last year.
IOL