SADTU North West condemns the stabbing of a female educator at school

4 May 2021

The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union in the North West (SADTU NW) strongly condemns the attack and multiple stabbing of a female educator attached to Tshegofe Primary School at Vaalboschloot. It is alleged that a male educator from Tolamo Primary near Brits armed with a sharp object, wearing a balaclava entered the classroom full of learners and stabbed the educator multiple times after arguments ensued.

We view this in an extremely serious light as it demonstrates that the safety of our members and education workers in general is at risk and under threat.

As a union we launched a campaign called ‘’I AM A SCHOOL FAN” campaign which intends to mobilize different stakeholders, teachers, learners, Parents, Department and community members at large to take stand against violence that is escalating in our schools.

Through “I AM A SCHOOL FAN” Campaign SADTU calls for the following:

Make our schools safe havens

Stop Violence against teachers

Stop violence in schools and communities

Stop bullying in schools

Stop Violence against Women and Children

Keep our schools clean and safe

Building a caring society

We call on the department to prioritize safety of our schools and intensify access control measures; psychosocial support and counselling should be provided to the entire school community.

One attack to any educator or any education worker is one too many and no one has the right to  threaten anyone’s life.

The violence against teachers must be seen as a national crisis and should be handled at the highest level. We call on the law enforcement agencies to institute a full investigation to determine the motive and the full might of the law should take its course.

Issued by George Themba, Provincial Secretary, SADTU NW, 4 May 2021