A group of pupils at Kanye Kanye High School in KwaZulu-Natal stand accused of burning down their school after their planned matric dance was cancelled last minute.
The school which is regarded as one of the best schools in Zululand district, was set alight after the matric dance was cancelled. The learners were angry and decided to damage the school property to express their anger and frustration.
The incident happened on Saturday night with the National Freedom Party calling on the KwaZulu-Natal- National Department of Education to fast-track the provision of security guards in all schools in the province, following the burning of a school in Dembe, North of the province.
The incident has proved so troubling, that politicians are now directly involved in the response. The NFP, who enjoyed the vast majority of support from voters in northern KZN, are now campaigning for the introduction of security guards at all schools.
In a public statement released on Monday, the NFP believe that a stronger security presence would have deterred any potential arsonists. Monday marks the first date for the 2022 matric exams- but students at Kanye Kanye now have a huge mountain to climb.
“It’s a worrying situation. This calls for an urgent intervention from the Department of Education in the province. MEC Mbali Fraser must make sure that rural schools are provided with security guards. We believe that had the school been guarded, this could have been prevented,” the NFP said.
The party’s secretary-general Canaan Mdletshe told the Daily News on Monday morning that the school excelled in Maths and Science and its destruction was a setback for the district. Mdletshe also criticised the communities surrounding the school for failing to protect their own infrastructure like this.
Source: The South African, IOL, image from Twitter: @SA2024elections
