Media Release
Minister of Education Donald Grant
Western Cape

16 August, 2013

Action plan between Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town to help protect educators in Manenberg

Statement by Minister Donald Grant, Minister of Education, Western Cape

Yesterday evening, Western Cape Education Minister Donald Grant, Community Safety Minister Dan Plato and Social Development Minister Albert Fritz, together with SAPS, City of Cape Town Aderman JP Smith and the Metro Police, met with a representative group of educators from the Manenberg area to discuss their safety concerns.

The aim of the meeting was to:

• Exchange information on the situation in Manenberg and its effects on schools.
• Review the initiatives that are in place in the area.
• Discuss what possible new steps can be taken to meet the safety concerns of the educators.
• Agree to re-open schools on Monday so that teaching and learning can continue.

The educators expressed two main concerns – the safety of educators travelling to and from schools and ongoing violence and shootings just outside the school premises.

The Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town have put forward a proposal that focuses on safe access in and out of Manenberg and the protection of the schools.

The City of Cape Town has offered to deploy additional manpower of between 60-80 Metro law enforcement staff in Manenberg.

The manpower would be divided between schools during school hours and along the access routes both before and after school.

Minister Grant has requested that the representative group of educators select a “task team” that would assist the Education Department and the Metro police to identify where the manpower is most needed today.

The team will assist in plotting out “safe movement corridors” for educators where there will be high law enforcement presence and will identify the security needs of each of the schools.

The final details of this plan will be communicated to all schools on Saturday, with the intention to re-open schools on Monday.

Our objective is to ensure the safety of our educators and learners before, during and after school, so that teaching and learning can continue.

The Provincial Government will also continue to engage with the SAPS when it comes to stepping up law enforcement in the area, as this responsibility cannot rest solely with the metro police.

For enquiries, contact Bronagh Casey:  072 724 1422 or bronagh.casey@westerncape.gov.za.

Media enquiries:
Bronagh Casey
Spokesperson for the Minister of Education, Donald Grant
Western Cape Education Department
Tel: 021 467 2377
Fax: 072 724 1422