Following the continuous spate of incidents of school violence in certain parts of the country, the Tshilwavhusiku SAPS made a surprise visit to two secondary schools within their policing area with the view of keeping the centre of learning a crime free area last Friday.

As drugs and other substances such as dagga are strongly believed to be precipitating violence in schools, the Tshilwavhusiku SAPS raid on both Mmilige and Kutama High schools were aimed at detecting dagga, drugs, self-made weapons and several other harmful objects.

The initial plan of raiding the two schools before their short break was set back by the law enforcers’ vehicle’s breakdown. The first breakdown happened about 10km from the police station, while the second took place several metres from the main entrance of Mmilige.

The raid was a joint project between the Tshilwavhusiku SAPS reservists and the Military Police from the Makhado Airforce Base. The team was led by both Capt NG Rammbuda and Insp Ratshilumela Ndadza.

The police´s school surprise visit began at Mmilige and ended at Kutama High. On arrival at Mmilige, the police briefed the school’s principal, Mr TT Netshifhefhe, about their visit to the school before they began with their rigorous search for dagga, weapons and other illegal substances. "Boys, take your school bags, stand against the wall on the verander, with your hands up. No more talking now until instructed to do so. Take off your shoes and empty them," said Insp Ratshilumela Ndadza during their search.

Girls were searched by female police officers inside classrooms. After the search at Mmilige, the police could not believe that they had found nothing from the ´notorious´ learners from the school situated at Midoroni Ha-Kutama.

It was at this school where sharp self-made pangas were detected by teachers from certain students during the previous and current academic years. Mr Netshifhefhe also confirmed that during the easter holidays, two students from Mmilige were alleged to have stabbed each other. "We view the police’s surprise visit as very crucial because it promotes peace and the safety of both students and educators. Even in education, we strongly believe that prevention is better than cure," he said.

Even at Kutama High, the police did not find anything dangerous or anything that constituted criminal activity. The deputy school principal of Kutama, Mr TP Ramovha, said that if the police had arrived before the short break, they should have discovered dagga in certain learners’ pockets. According to Ramovha, some students at his school are kind and gentle in the morning when there are still sober. He said that, once such learners become intoxicated during the short break, they become bullies when they return to the class. Both Ramovha and Netshifhefhe acknowledged that learners who smoke dagga are more prone to violence.

Capt NG Rammbuda, who led the raid, said that they were delighted by not finding things that constitute criminal activities at the two schools. "We are of the view that the raiding of schools will drastically reduce the involvement of young people in various criminal activities. We also wanted to show learners that it is our responsibility to fight crime at their schools. Our holding cells are overcrowded with young people. We want to prevent what is happening in certain areas through crime-awareness campaigns and surprise raids," he said.

Insp Ratshilumela Ndadza, who is responsible of social crime prevention at the Tshilwavhusiku SAPS, added that, apart from raiding the schools, they also conduct crime-awareness campaigns at schools within their policing area.

He said that during the campaign, they encourage learners not to bring dangerous weapons to their schools. "We also want to urge parents to keep a close eye on their children´s behaviour. We know as police that the dagga that is brought to the schools comes from certain members of the community and we would like to warn such people to refrain from involving our young people in illegal things for their own personal gain," he said.