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The Gauteng Department of Education's (GDE) decision to ignore calls for a review of its school safety strategy has resulted in tragic incidents and the needless deaths of learners.

In a series of dreadful incidents, four learners from Eqinisweni Secondary School in Ivory Park allegedly committed suicide between 26 April 2024 and 5 May 2024.
A Grade 10 female learner consumed poison at home on Friday, 26 April 2024. She was immediately taken to a nearby clinic, but sadly, she was pronounced dead. On Thursday, 2 May 2024, a Grade 11 female learner was found dead at her home by her parents. It is alleged that she also took her own life by consuming poison.

Following that, a Grade 11 male learner was hospitalised on Friday, 3 May 2024, for allegedly ingesting poison. Sadly, he passed away while undergoing medical care. Tragically, on Sunday, 5 May 2024, a Grade 12 female learner reportedly consumed poison at her residence and passed away on the way to a nearby medical facility.

For far too long, the DA has been calling on the department to review the school safety strategy, which is failing based on the numerous tragic incidents that have occurred since the beginning of the 2024 academic year, raising serious concerns about the safety of learners and teachers across the province.

The succession of events includes:

1. On 20 January 2024, a Grade 7 learner at Laerskool Queenswood in Pretoria allegedly drowned during a school excursion.
2. On 1 February 2024, a Grade 6 learner from Modiselle Primary School in Ga-Rankuwa, north of Tshwane, passed away after allegedly falling off a moving scholar transport bus.
3. On 6 February 2024, a Grade 1 girl learner from Mandlethu Primary School in Tsakane, Brakpan, passed away after allegedly consuming biscuits bought from a local spaza shop.
4. On 7 February 2024, a Grade 8 boy learner from Oakdale Secondary School in Ennerdale, South of Johannesburg, died after being stabbed in a fight with another Grade 10 boy learner, who was also involved in the stabbing incident.
5. On 16 February 2024, a 13-year-old learner from Primrose Primary School shot and injured the school principal.
6. On 29 March 2024, a scholar transport carrying learners from Sandringham High School collided with another vehicle in Alexandra, resulting in six learners sustaining injuries.
7. On 9 April 2024, a shooting incident occurred outside Primrose High School in Ekurhuleni, causing panic among pupils and teachers.
8. On 4 May 2024, a female educator from Thuto-Lore Secondary School in Sharpeville was found dead at Dlomo Dam near her home.

The department's longstanding awareness of its deficient safety strategy places complete accountability on them for these awful incidents, as it has ignored the lessons from past disasters and failed to establish an integrated safety plan. How many more lives need to be lost before the department recognises that the safety of our learners and educators is in danger?

The MECs for Education, Matome Chiloane, Roads and Transport, Kedibone Diale Tlabela, and Community Safety, Faith Mazibuko, should work together with the school governing bodies and communities to develop a coordinated intervention approach to address these incidents.

The DA demands that MEC Chiloane investigate the matter urgently to ascertain the reasons for all the identical deaths at Eqinisweni Secondary School.
We are committed to creating a safe and supportive environment free from the threat of violence, criminality, and bullying, and we will not postpone adopting a thorough school safety strategy once elected on 29 May.

Issued by Sergio Isa Dos Santos MPL - DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education