I note with dismay that most schools in the townships are in an undesirable state because of vandalism.
I note with dismay that most schools in the townships are in an undesirable state because of vandalism.
This is in sharp contrast to schools in formally white and Indian areas.
The perpetrators of these acts of vandalism have little or no regard for our instructions of learning. What is most disheartening is that they come from our communities and are mostly known to us.
However, they are allowed to wreak havoc because people are afraid to report them or because of sheer apathy.
The question to ask is: why do we black people not value, cherish and protect what is meant to empower us? We are 13 years into a democratic dispensation and we still witness the self-hate mentality ingrained in our minds through centuries of colonialism and decades of apartheid.
It is time that the full might of the law is unleashed on these miscreants who do so much damage to our schools. We owe it to our children to protect our schools, lest history judges us harshly.
Not all black parents can, or for that matter, want to educate their children at former Model C schools. As parents, pupils and members of the community, let us take the fight to these saboteurs and report acts of vandalism to the police.
We need to declare unequivocally that enough is enough. These vandals must leave our schools alone.
Nathaniel Lee, Johannesburg
Vandals have a self-hate agenda from apartheid
I note with dismay that most schools in the townships are in an undesirable state because of vandalism.
I note with dismay that most schools in the townships are in an undesirable state because of vandalism.
This is in sharp contrast to schools in formally white and Indian areas.
The perpetrators of these acts of vandalism have little or no regard for our instructions of learning. What is most disheartening is that they come from our communities and are mostly known to us.
However, they are allowed to wreak havoc because people are afraid to report them or because of sheer apathy.
The question to ask is: why do we black people not value, cherish and protect what is meant to empower us? We are 13 years into a democratic dispensation and we still witness the self-hate mentality ingrained in our minds through centuries of colonialism and decades of apartheid.
It is time that the full might of the law is unleashed on these miscreants who do so much damage to our schools. We owe it to our children to protect our schools, lest history judges us harshly.
Not all black parents can, or for that matter, want to educate their children at former Model C schools. As parents, pupils and members of the community, let us take the fight to these saboteurs and report acts of vandalism to the police.
We need to declare unequivocally that enough is enough. These vandals must leave our schools alone.
Nathaniel Lee, Johannesburg