Fearful and panicked Eldorado Park parents have been urged to use their “own discretion” when it comes to sending their children to school after separate incidents at two schools this week.
Video footage emerged on social media showing concerned parents and residents gathered outside Willow Crescent Secondary School after an alleged shooting at the school on Wednesday.
According to numerous reports, two armed suspects entered the schoolyard and opened fire on two pupils.
On the same day, at Lancea Vale Secondary School, a pupil was stabbed by a schoolmate who later fled the scene.
Police confirmed that a case of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm had been opened after the incident at Lancea Vale.
“Meanwhile, police responded to an alleged shooting at Willow Crescent. On arrival, nobody knew about the shooting and a thorough investigation was done.”
Police said no-one was injured and “no cartridges were found at the scene”.
Community leaders in the area, however, confirmed both incidents.
One of them was Charis Pretorius, founder of Coloured Lives Matter Too, who said: “Based on the information I received from the two schools, there was an altercation between pupils [at Willow Crescent] during one of the breaks. These pupils then [presumably] called friends, who came to the school premises and started shooting.
“Simultaneously, there was a stabbing at Lancea Vale. When that happened, there was a fracas, and a whole lot of pupils panicked. That situation was then resolved, and the SAPS arrived at the scene,” she said.
The school's governing body confirmed the incident in a letter sent to parents and explained how it unfolded.
“The normal school day was disrupted by the unruly behaviour of some of our pupils at our school. Educators tried to bring the situation under control but to no avail. The police were called in, but most of them were attending to a similar crisis at Willow Crescent.
“Concerned parents came to the school to take their children home. The police eventually arrived on the scene, but the pupils and educators were traumatised by then. Some of the pupils who were involved in the incident were taken into custody and removed from the premises by the police,” the letter said.
The SGB assured parents it was taking the necessary “measures” to ensure pupils and educators are safe at the school. It confirmed that the school would remain open but urged parents to “use their own discretion on the attendance of their children”.
People are panicking and we can't say the situation is normal. It's not normal because at the end of the day, people are pointing fingers but we need to find the root cause before it escalates
— Eldorado Park CPF chairperson
Pretorius said the incidents had left pupils and staff members panicked and fearful, especially after the circulation of a list featuring the names of pupils apparently set to be targeted in retaliation for Wednesday's incident.
The list, which TimesLIVE Premium has seen, contains 12 names and a message saying: “ons kom vir julle varado p**se more is war by the vale [sic]” (we're coming for you varado p**es, tomorrow will be a war at Vale).
The existence and circulation of the list were verified by a second source.
She also said that attendance had dropped at both schools following the incidents and the circulation of the letter.
“There was a lot of panic that occurred, rightly so, because of people reaching out in community groups requesting for the police or ambulances,” she said.
Adding to this was Eldorado Park CPF chairperson Sibusiso Zwane, who though unable to provide more information on the incidents, spoke on the effect it had on residents.
“It came as a shock, especially to me, because we thought everything was quiet and calm. Only to find out that this has resurfaced,” he said.
"[But] to be honest, it's on and off, especially when it comes to certain sections of the suburb. So while you're focusing on [one] hotspot, it flares up in another section.”
These “problematic” areas are extension 2 and 4 — Lancea Vale is located in one of them.
This is why it didn't come as a big surprise to learn of the attack at the school, Zwane said. The shock was at Willow Crescent.
“Lancea Vale has always been in a hotspot area ... the school is in a bad area. We know that one, but Willow Crescent is not a school where we thought something like this could happen,” he said.
Zwane and Pretorius both said the situation was tense in Eldorado Park as residents were fearful and worried for their safety.
“People are panicking, and we can't say the situation is normal. It's not normal because, at the end of the day, people are pointing fingers and we need to find the root cause before it escalates,” Zwane said.
Pretorius said: “I did speak to the teachers at the schools ... and a couple of parents and people were saying they were keeping their children at home. They were saying there was no way they were going to send their children to school based on the threats that were issued subsequent to the incidents that happened.”
Both spoke of the importance of initiating interventions, not just at these schools but at others in the area, given how easily crime moves from one part of the suburb to the other.
“Crime moves; it won't be stationed in one place. Sometimes, people [like] gangsters see that a certain area is quiet, and they try to recruit and infiltrate there. So we can't be focusing on one area, let's target every school whether problematic or not.
“If we don't target [all the] schools, how sure are we they might not recruit those children to join their gangs,” Zwane said.
Pretorius said she was looking to do an intervention along with the national neighbourhood watch at the various schools to provide guidance to teachers and pupils on school safety.
“We need to have a blanket approach when it comes to how we are going to address this. It is a challenge because other schools last year were also impacted by violence. We had matriculants who had challenges when it came to writing their final exams. Grade 11 pupils also had challenges going to school.”
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