Parliament body on education urges swift action against extortionists

The chairperson of parliament's select committee on education Makhi Feni has called on law enforcement agencies to "bring to a complete stop" criminals who have threatened schools in Mthatha, Eastern Cape.

Several schools in the area have closed after criminals demanded money from the teachers and other staff members.

"The people who have decided that schools are soft targets for these nefarious acts are cowards who do not value education whatsoever. They do not have respect for learning time, educators and learners," Feni said.

According to Feni, the schools which have been closed after "thugs operating in the area demanded money" are: Sinolwazi Senior Secondary School, Bambanani Junior Secondary School, Maholweni Junior Secondary School and Laphumikhwezi Junior Secondary School.

He said teachers from these schools have stopped going to work following threats, and in some instances, they have been assaulted.

"This is one area where law enforcement cannot be sluggish or tardy. Surely these thugs are known people," Feni said.

"The police should assist before we have a situation of having police and security permanently stationed at schools; that will not be conducive for learning and we do not wish it to happen. Soon this will extend to clinics, hospitals and homes if no decisive action is taken."

On Tuesday, the police said multidisciplinary teams had been deployed to prevent, combat, investigate and arrest those behind incidents of gang violence and extortion in the Eastern Cape.

National police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola said communities could be held at ransom and urged residents to bring forward the names of the extortionists.

"The challenge that we are having is that community members are reluctant to report incidents of extortion. We urge our communities to come forward and report all forms of criminality to us and who these people are. [This will] enable us to effect more arrests and ensure we build watertight cases that will be able to stand in court," Masemola said.

"For us to pin down these extortionists, we need witnesses. We urge the communities' cooperation in this regard. We have dedicated teams that are assigned to these cases. We are also looking at increasing capacity to register more cases and ensure takedowns."

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