Statement by André Gaum, Western Cape Education Minister

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) will today receive further clarity regarding the declaration of five of our schools as Firearm Free Zones (FFZ) by the National Department of Safety and Security.

The Head of our Safe Schools Division, Ms Nariman Khan, is attending the next Inter-Provincial School Safety Meeting in Kwazulu-Natal, where progress with regard to the pilot-project for declaring schools FFZ's will be reported on.

The project, where schools would be declared Firearm Free Zones was initiated in 2001. It is run in partnership with the National Education Department and the National SAPS.

In April 2001, the Firearms Control Act (Act No. 60 of 2000) was signed into law. This new law makes provision for firearm free zone. According to the law, the Minister for Safety and Security can declare any place, such as a school, to be a FFZ. Nobody is allowed to bring guns or ammunition into a FFZ, or to store guns or ammunition there. Any person(s) doing so can be charged in court with having committed a crime and can be given a heavy prison sentence.

The WCED: Safe Schools Division identified 5 schools to participate in the pilot project, where schools had to follow the various procedures and steps to be declared Firearm Free Zones.

These include:

• Consulting with all stakeholders, such as learners' representative councils, educators, parents, learners, CBO's and NGO's, religious and sport bodies, community safety forums and community policing forums;
• Developing a policy which must be implemented by the Safety committee of the schools;
• Registering as a FFZ with the SAPS and National Department of Safety and Security.

The 5 schools identified in the Pilot Project are Yellowwood Primary School, Tafelsig Senior Secondary School, Chumisa Primary School, Chris Hani Secondary School and Intlanganiso Secondary School.

The procedures to be declared firearm free zones are also included in the WCED Safe Schools Division's Procedural Manual for Managing Safety and Security, which was launched last week.

It is important to note that any request by a school to be declared a firearm free zone must be part of a broader strategy of that school to establish itself as a safe environment for learning and teaching.

Our Safe Schools programme has played a key role in ensuring safe school environments in recent years, by providing security systems, mobilising community support for schools, modifying learner behaviour and assisting learners who experience abuse.

Safe Schools strives to create centres of excellence with strong community links, quality learning and teaching and effective management and governance, and in so doing, combat the root causes of crime and violence.

Although all schools are by law declared dangerous object free zones, we want to encourage schools to further their initiatives for safety at the school, especially in communities where gang violence pose a real threat to our learners and teachers.

We will do all we can to partner with schools in this regard and I call on local communities to participate in consulting on these issues and developing policy for safety at their local school. This is another opportunity for school communities to take ownership of their school.

Inquiries: Rudi Buys at  082 577 6551