Durban - Pressure is mounting on the Department of Education to review its gun policy at schools following the shooting of another teacher at a school.
Inga Hopewell Nzoboyi, 24, a student-teacher at Riverdene Secondary School in Newlands West north of Durban, was shot and seriously wounded on Tuesday.
He was rushed to hospital in a critical condition according to his colleagues. Paramedics who attended the scene said he had a gunshot wound in the head.
Educators Union of SA general secretary Siphiwe Mpungose told the Daily News on Tuesday that the union was tired of burying teachers who were killed at schools, while their firearms were kept in safes in their homes.
Mpungose added that what angered teachers the most was that senior education officials were working in guarded offices, while teachers were not allowed to defend themselves with their licensed firearms.
“We are in a war zone. Teachers are in ‘Ukraine’ with no one to defend them yet their constitutional right of defending themselves has been taken away by the government, which cannot defend them.
“We are calling on all teachers who have guns to bring them to schools to defend themselves from criminals and the union will come to their defence if the department charges them. Those who do not have firearms must go and apply for their licences and buy them,” said Mpungose.
He said according to information from the school “thugs” entered the school grounds in a black Toyota Yaris sedan and opened fire in front of pupils, adding that his union demands that the department admits to having failed to protect both teachers and pupils at schools.
Mpungose said the department should take full responsibility for the crimes, killings and violence at schools.
“We wish to reiterate our call for teachers in crime-infested communities to protect themselves rather than being helpless victims. The Department of Education has the blood of teachers on its hands. The Mickey Mouse operation in our schools should end now. We want two police members per school, especially in areas like KwaMashu, Inanda, Newlands West and East, and other hot spots,” Mpungose said.
National Teachers Union president Sibusiso Malinga warned the department that if it continued to fail to protect teachers they would be forced to defend themselves with whatever they would find near them, adding that the department had shown that it did not care about teachers’ lives.
The National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA (Naptosa) said it was not the first time an educator had been attacked while on duty and it would not be the last. Naptosa chief executive in KwaZulu-Natal Thirona Moodley said teachers’ cries for improved security at schools have fallen on deaf ears.
“The Department of Education is failing our teachers and pupils. We are in a situation where educators have to work in impossible conditions. Their lives and property are constantly under threat in poorer schools that cannot afford to provide their own security. Teachers have a right to work in a safe work environment,” said Moodley.
According to teachers the attack was believed to be an act of revenge after the teacher managed to disarm thugs who entered the school and robbed teachers of their cellphones and other belongings the previous week.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala said Newlands East police were in investigating a case of attempted murder after a teacher was shot and wounded.
KZN Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said: “As education, we are equally troubled about what is happening and hope that the provincial comprehensive strategy on crime will have spin-offs in dealing with the crime that is happening in our schools.”
Daily News