Cape Town - A Grade 11 pupil from Oscar Mpetha High School in Nyanga has been suspended and is awaiting a disciplinary hearing after he was allegedly found with a gun on him. The gun was confiscated and handed over to the law enforcement school resource officer (SRO) at the school last Friday.
Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said they were made aware of the incident the day it happened.
The matter was also reported to Safe Schools and the police. The principal contacted the learner’s mother to inform her of the matter.
“The school’s SGB is following the school’s code of conduct and has suspended the learner. A disciplinary hearing will now take place. The sanction is still to be determined. The school will make arrangements for the learner to write his exams.”
Hammond said Oscar Mpetha was a recipient of the schools for the SRO project. The WCED, in partnership with the City’s law enforcement unit, has deployed SROs to various schools across the province.
This is largely where there are high incidents of community violence which may have an impact on the safety of learners in the school.
Prior to this incident, the school had no other incidents of violence or weapons this year.
On Friday, the City reported that when the learner was brought into the office of the law enforcement officer he ran away. The officer gave chase and saw the learner entering a classroom and swopping school bags.
When the officer confronted the learner, he claimed the bag he dropped was not his. The officer opened the bag and found a .38 Special Taurus revolver with two live rounds.
The boy’s parents were called and he was taken to Nyanga SAPS where he was charged with being in possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition.
siviwe.melapi@inl.co.za