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The violent stabbing of a pupil outside Trenance Park Secondary School in Pinetown, the mass brawl involving pupils from Esther Payne Smith Secondary in Northdale, and the vandalism at Mzwamandla High in uMlazi recently, are not isolated incidents.
They show how violence in schools is no longer exceptional — it is becoming systemic, threatening to undo the very purpose of education as a path to opportunity and progress.
As Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka warned: “This criminal and ill-disciplined behaviour, including carrying weapons to school, will not be tolerated.” Communities are angry and are demanding consequences, and they are right to do so.
ALSO READ | Education Department condemns vandalism at uMlazi school
While we acknowledge that the causes are complex — such as poverty, fractured families, long commutes and absent parental guidance — none of this excuses criminal acts.
Too often the focus is on why perpetrators lash out, while the victims — the children and families who sacrifice daily for the promise of an education — are forgotten. They deserve protection and the constitutionally guaranteed right to education.
The response must be unflinching. More police patrols around schools are needed to deter violence and stop weapons entering classrooms. Those who stab, brawl or destroy must be found, arrested, and face both internal disciplinary processes and the criminal justice system.
ALSO READ | KZN Education Department condemns violence at Northdale and Durban schools
South African law is clear: many of these adolescents are old enough to face the consequences of their actions. They are not the victims here, they are the perpetrators, and they must be answerable. But responsibility cannot rest with schools or police alone.
Parents and caregivers must take charge of shaping their children before they set foot in a classroom. Discipline, respect and values must be instilled at home.
Tough love is needed from the outset, through firm boundaries, accountability and consequences for misconduct in the home. Bad behaviour must be nipped in the bud if schools are to remain places of safety and learning, not battlegrounds.
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