The Democratic Alliance is deeply concerned by the escalating levels of drug activity, firearm possession and violent crime affecting schools across the Eastern Cape, as revealed by the MEC for Community Safety, Xolile Nqatha.
I will be tabling a motion in the Eastern Cape Legislature calling on MEC Nqatha and the South African Police Service to implement an urgent, coordinated intervention in identified high-risk schools.
This must include the formal designation of high-risk schools, enabling SAPS to conduct regular, intelligence-led searches in compliance with existing legal frameworks, the deployment of dedicated high-visibility patrols in hotspot areas, and targeted operations to dismantle drug supply networks operating in and around schools.
In reply to parliamentary questions from the DA, MEC Nqatha revealed that between the 2021/22 and 2025/26 financial years, more than 150 school children were arrested for drug possession and dealing.
A further 70 learners were arrested for carrying firearms, with 21 arrests in 2025/26 alone. Over the same period, 57 school children were arrested for murder and more than 795 for assault. A total of 46 firearms were recovered from school children during these five years.
The vast majority of drugs, according to Nqatha, were recovered in Nelson Mandela Bay. The drugs involved included dagga, crystal meth and mandrax. Arrests have been concentrated in several police station clusters, including Bethelsdorp, Chatty and Walmer in Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo Flats and Qonce in Buffalo City, and stations such as KwaBhaca, Maxesibeni, Willowvale, Bridge Camp, Dordrecht, Humansdorp and Graaff Reinet in other districts.
Primary schools have not escaped this crisis. Since the 2022/23 financial year, 26 primary school learners have been found in possession of drugs, while 11 primary schools reported incidents involving substance use by learners in 2024/25 and 2025/26.
Worryingly, MEC Nqatha was unable to provide details on how these young learners are gaining access to prescription-grade drugs, the specific substances used in primary schools, any arrests linked to dealing near primary schools, or the extent of possible gangsterism links among school children.
Nqatha indicated that schools are searched monthly or at the request of school management, however, in some instances, School Governing Bodies have blocked these raids and searches.
Download responses here
The department’s main response continues to centre on awareness campaigns, school visits, community Imbizos and encouraging school management to report incidents, measures that have clearly not succeeded in curbing the problem.
The safety of learners cannot continue to be compromised while our schools are increasingly exposed to drugs, firearms and violence.
The people of the Eastern Cape deserve leadership that delivers protection to our children and restores schools as safe spaces for learning, dignity, and opportunity.