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The DA is very concerned about the security of school assets and infrastructure particularly during the festive season.

The majority of robberies occur during December, as teachers and learners will be on holidays and schools will be empty.

We have had numerous incidents of burglaries and vandalism of our schools where valuable assets such as smart boards, computers, televisions, printers, tablets and laptops have been stolen.

According to a written reply to the DA’s questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, the Gauteng Department of Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi indicated that 412 incidents of theft, vandalism and break-ins have been reported from 2014 to date.

Johannesburg Central schools are the most affected with the highest number of incidents – 127 - reported.

The assets stolen during these incidents are to the value of about R5 633 789.

We suspect that this amount has been grossly underreported as these stolen schools asset cost more based on the market value.

These statistics are very disturbing and indicate that our schools’ safety and security is under threat.

Furthermore, to date, 156 smartboards, 8050 tablets and 74 desktops have been reported stolen since they have been rolled out to schools.

MEC Lesufi must implement stringent security measures to minimise such losses in our schools.

Schools patrollers alone are unable to prevent crime from occurring in our schools as they are not adequately trained to deal with these type of incidences and have limited resources.

The department should ensure that our schools are equipped with alarm systems and CCTV cameras.

The department must also involve the communities in safe-guarding the schools.

The DA calls upon MEC Lesufi to review his school crime prevention strategy and allocate budget for school security to protect our educational assets.

Issued by DA