The outside of the Soweto high school resembled a crime scene, with police vans parked opposite the school and at least six officers watching the entrance.
On Monday, Creecy, Gauteng education department officials and Lead SA's Yusuf Abramjee waited at the school's gate and demanded to know why so many pupils were not on time.
Creecy had warned the more than 500 latecomers on Monday that if they were not punctual in future they would be taken to the police station and their parents would be contacted.
Her spokesman, Charles Phahlane, later backtracked on this threat.
Yesterday's latecomers were spoken to by the police and journalists were not permitted to listen in.
"We must always be on time and if we don't follow the rules there will be consequences," a Grade 11 pupil said after being spoken to by the officers.
Another Grade 11 pupil said: "The police are trying to teach us to do the good things and we are trying to do the bad things."
He said he had been late for school because he had waited for his friends.
Patrollers, paid by the Gauteng education department to act as security guards, wrote down the names of the pupils who were not on time yesterday.
The patrollers' daily responsibilities include checking that pupils are in class and notsmoking in the toilets.
Phahlane said the department had become involved at Lavela Secondary, and had invited Lead SA to join it, because the community had complained about chronic tardiness at the school.
Creecy met Lavela principal Fikile Mnyandu and asked for a management plan to monitor and control pupils' and teachers' punctuality.
Teachers' union Naptosa's president, Nkwai Ramasehla, said action should be taken against Mnyandu for allowing pupils to arrive after the first classes had begun.
Phahlane said the principal would not face disciplinary action.
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