In a praiseworthy move, members of the much-vilified taxi industry have stepped up to the plate and taken on the role of protectors at a Kariega school, it emerged recently.
Taxi operators took the initiative in response to an armed robbery at Phaphani Secondary School in KwaNobuhle last week.
Staff and school governing body members were held at gunpoint during the incident, which has left them severely traumatised.
One of the women was apparently struck with a gun by the cowardly robbers, who targeted a place which should be a safe space for children.
It is the time of year when matric pupils are attending exam camps and spending extra time at the school, with some even sleeping over, while revising their work for their finals, making them vulnerable to ruthless criminals to whom no place is exempt, be it schools, churches, clinics or hospitals.
Even emergency workers are robbed and ambulances hijacked.
The criminals have not even a smidgen of conscience.
Shamefully, it is not the first time this school and others have been hit by criminals.
SGB member Leonard Ngwenya said in a previous robbery laptops and cellphones were taken.
He said the robbers, described by the police as six “boys”, overpowered the school’s security guard before charging into the boardroom at about 5.30pm on Wednesday, where the SGB was having a meeting.
Some of the pupils, who were coming in to prepare for the exams, walked in while the robbery was in progress and had their hands tied, which is not something any parent wants to hear.
Members of the Uitenhage and District Taxi Association and Uncedo Taxi Association drove to Phaphani High School in solidarity against the robbery.
Uitenhage and District Taxi Association head of transport Kholekile Peter said that from now on association members would patrol outside schools, particularly where the pupils were attending the exam camps, until the exams were over.
“We’re going to work with police and have people patrolling at the school to make sure nothing disrupts these children from safely writing their exams,” he said.
KwaNobuhle station commander Colonel Sakhiwo Dulungana said he hoped the partnership with the taxi industry would reassure residents.
The police don’t have the staff or equipment to enable them to protect schools at all times so what the taxi operators are doing is commendable and we hope more will join the effort to protect our schools.
The Herald
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