The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Eastern Cape demands urgent action from the South African Police Service to investigate the tragic stabbing death of an 18-year-old matric learner at the Humansdorp Senior Secondary School.
On behalf of the DA, I would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the learner who so tragically passed away. We wish them strength during this difficult time.
We are appalled by these acts of violence, which have no place in any society, let alone our schools.
Our schools have become breeding grounds for criminality and havens for gang activity, and this cannot be allowed to continue. Particularly the Humansdorp Secondary School have been plagued by gangsterism and drug abuse over the past few years. The situation is no longer tolerable.
The SAPS must act urgently to bring those responsible for this tragedy to justice, applying the full might of the law, and send a clear message that violence in our schools will not be tolerated.
The DA also demands a full investigation by the Eastern Cape Department of Education and Eastern Cape Department of Community Safety into how such a brutal act of violence could occur in a school setting, with clear accountability for those responsible for failing to ensure the safety of learners.
In addition, the DA in Kouga has launched a municipal-wide petition calling for increased resources for the Humansdorp Police Station, which remains severely under-resourced despite growing safety concerns. We encourage all residents to sign this petition so that it can be submitted to the MEC for Community Safety as a united call from the community demanding urgent intervention.
The DA will continue fighting for an environment where every learner is safe in school. We demand immediate and comprehensive action to ensure that incidents like the one at the Humansdorp Senior Secondary School never happen again.