By Charmaine Ndlela
KwaZulu-Natal Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka has called for the urgent arrest of a gang that shot dead a security guard during an armed robbery at Inanda Technical Comprehensive High School in Pinetown.
About five armed men entered the school grounds between 1am and 2am on Saturday, overpowered four security guards and tied them up before stealing computers, cellphones, equipment and petty cash, according to the provincial education department.
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One of the guards was shot during the attack and later died from his injuries. The guards remained tied up with their wounded colleague until they were discovered at about 7am.
Hlomuka visited the school on Monday to assess the situation and security measures following the attack.
“We are deeply disturbed and saddened by this senseless loss of life. Schools must remain safe spaces for teaching and learning, and it is unacceptable that criminals should target our schools and put the lives of learners, educators and support staff at risk,” Hlomuka said.
He called on police to investigate the killing and urged community members with information about the suspects to come forward.
The department said no arrests had been made by Monday, although police were following “promising leads”.
KwaZulu-Natal Education Department media liaison Mlu Mtshali said officials received reports about the incident from the school and the local police station commander.
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“Four security guards were overpowered by a group of about five criminals. They were tied up and once they were tied up, these criminals went on to the strong rooms, where they proceeded to steal equipment, cell phones, computers and some petty cash,” Mtshali told Inside Education.
“Unfortunately, during the altercation, one of the security guards was shot, and they left him there until he succumbed to his injuries.”
No learners or teachers were on the premises at the time.
“The traumatic thing for them as the guards is that they were tied up with somebody who was dying in front of them from that 2am until 7am when they were discovered,” Mtshali said.
The robbers also took cellphones belonging to some of the guards and phones that had been stored in the school safe.
Mtshali said the attack had traumatised the school community, including the principal, and the department would make psychosocial support available to learners and staff who needed it.
“The principal was visibly traumatised by the incident, and this transfers on to the learners, obviously,” Mtshali said.
Teaching and learning continued on Monday, with learners writing examinations. The department also arranged for pupils who needed to prepare for exams to use neighbouring schools.
The attack has renewed concerns about school security, although Mtshali said simply increasing the number of guards was unlikely to prevent determined criminals from targeting schools.
“It is disheartening because we never want to get to a situation where we have more security guards or police in our schools than we have teachers,” he said.
Four guards were on duty at the school when the attack took place.
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“We had four security guards, and apparently these people knew that we have four, and that’s why they brought five of their own. So if we bring in 10, they will bring in 12 criminals,” Mtshali said.
He said stronger cooperation between schools, surrounding communities, law enforcement and other safety stakeholders was needed.
“We really need a way of working closer with our communities,” he said.
Mtshali said the school had benefited from community protection for years, making the attack particularly shocking.
The department said it would work with the school and relevant safety and security stakeholders to assess existing measures and identify ways to strengthen security.
Hlomuka also expressed condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the slain guard.
“Our thoughts are with the family of the security officer during this extremely difficult time. We also recognise the trauma that this incident may have caused among the school community,” he said.
