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Edwin Naidu
THE Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and Governance in collaboration with the Gauteng Department of Education
has designed a three-year programme to capacitate and promote safety at schools in the province.
“It is the mission of the Gauteng school safety programme to create centres of excellence with strong community links,
quality learning and teaching, and effective management and governance,” says Sibusiso Mahlangu, the Chief Executive
Officer of the MGSLG. “In so doing, the strategy will help combat the root causes of crime and violence, and thereby
advance social cohesion.”
Mahlangu was among the speakers at a high-level School Safety Indaba in Ekurhuleni on 11 November 2023 – part of
the Safe Schools Campaign under Operation Kgutla Molao (Restore Order) – to mobilise different stakeholders to
safeguard schools against criminal activities, especially during the holidays.
The Gauteng Department of Education, under Education MEC Matome Chiloane, hosted the Indaba at the Birchwood
Hotel, Boksburg, to evaluate the progress of the campaign so far, develop further interventions for emerging threats and
provide a status update on identified high-risk schools in the province.
Chiloane launched Operation Kgutla Molao in response to reports of safety concerns at Gauteng schools and the
programme, under the department and its partners, plans to deal with and reduce incidents of violence, bullying, suicide,
substance abuse and sexual harassment at schools.
With an over-arching strategy to find solutions to escalating crime, which manifested itself on several occasions during this
year’s National Senior Certificate examinations, the Safety Summit brought key stakeholders together to collectively agree
on a way forward.
The School Safety Capacity Building Programme is premised on the training of school safety committees and forms part
of the programme to revive these committees at all public schools, empower teachers with the tools to positively manage
discipline in class, provide training to school governing bodies (SGBs) on school safety issues and conduct advocacy
programmes at community level to promote social cohesion and discipline.
The plan is two-fold, with the first part focused on training on school safety and the roles and responsibilities of the
safety committee; the second phase is the monitoring, coaching and certification of all participants.
As part of the second phase, all schools at high risk have to, among other tasks, conduct a safety audit for the year, compile monthly safety reports, compile and revise safety plans on a quarterly basis or as recommended by the SGB, draw up safety
programmes and make provision for the representation by the school’s safety officer and/or principal on the cluster.
In addition, Mahlungu says, the programme will also empower SGBs and SGB Associations with dispute resolution skills
to ensure proper processes and the necessary skills to conduct disciplinary hearings.
Overall, he adds, the programme seeks to be more remedial than relying on the expulsion and criminalisation of
learners. “It is only when all else fails that the disciplinary committee should request the expulsion of learners, so it is
important to keep updated files of all learner behaviour,” Mahlungu adds.
The programme will be implemented over a three-year period by the MGSLG and the Gauteng Department of Education
to ensure that all public schools, especially those in townships, informal settlements, hostels and/or crime-dense areas
are capacitated and supported.
The intervention plan will be implemented by working together with safety coordinators and managers within the GDE so
that efforts are synergized and not duplicated. According to the South African Schools Act, SGBs are responsible for the
safety of schools.
However, according to Mahlangu, SGB safety committees do not exist or are non-functional. It is
against this background that the plan proposes the resuscitation of safety committees among other steps to stop crime at
schools.
Mahlungu says the programme will be rolled out over a period of three years, as it seeks to make an impact on all
schools found to be at high risk because of several factors, including crimes against school infrastructure, violence against
learners and/or teachers, and crimes and violence that hamper effective learning and a safe environment.
The key objective of the campaign is to ensure that all ordinary public schools in Gauteng have functional school safety
committees.
“This proposed intervention action plan will be implemented over a period of three years with the year 2023/2024 focused on the
improvement of hotspots and schools at high risk,” Mahlangu says.
“The year 2024/2026 will see the finalisation of the implementation of the current Gauteng Safety Strategy and inform the formulation of a five-year cycle strategy. Information gathering and implementation of education sector safety policies shall remain at the forefront of ensuring safety at schools.”