Wild scenes were witnessed outside Charlotte Maxeke Secondary School, where pupils swarmed the gates and shoved their way out of the premises at a time when the day’s proceedings were scheduled to take place.
What’s happening at Charlotte Maxeke Secondary School?
As reported by eNCA‘s Hedi Giokos, a large group of pupils from Charlotte Mxeke Secondary School broke down the gate in a frenzy, on Monday morning. From what we understand, the pupils had every intention of skipping out on morning classes to show solidarity to peers from Phomolong, a high school nearby.
The boycott, it’s said, was an act of defiance meant to send a strong message to the Department of Education, after a deputy headmaster from Phomolong Secondary School was murdered last week Friday.
JUST IN: Tensions are high at Charlotte Maxeke Secondary School in Tembisa. The learners here managed to break down the gate. They want to support their fellow peers at Phomolong Secondary School where the deputy headmaster was gunned down on Friday. #eNCA pic.twitter.com/C4hNf8LZxZ
— Heidi Giokos (@HeidiGiokos) January 24, 2022
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi was scheduled to address a meeting at Phomolong and pupils from Charlotte forced their way into the symposium, supposedly looking for answers and word from the government on steps taken to assure their safety.
Learners from Charlotte Maxeke Secondary School have managed to get into Phomolong Secondary. Earlier this morning they broke the gate down of CM school as they wanted to come to Phomolong to show support. #eNCA pic.twitter.com/oWUe4I14MP
— Heidi Giokos (@HeidiGiokos) January 24, 2022
Lesufi, addressing the crossover school meeting, admitted that while Friday’s brazen murder was still the subject of investigation, with the motive unknown, “the police have activated a 72-hour task to hunt those that have killed our deputy principal.”
“We want to send a strong message to them. They can run, they can hide, we will find them. We know when we find them they will tell us [who sent them]. They must explain to us, out of so many people out there, why did they choose our deputy principal,” Lesufi said.
To address the horror that took place at the school, the department sent a team of religious leaders and social workers to begin counselling.