LOOK: What police found during raids at Mpumalanga schools

Pretoria – Mpumalanga MEC for Community Safety, Security and Liaison, Vusi Shongwe has lauded law enforcement agents for seizing several items including dangerous weapons from learners during a search and seizure operation.

The anti-crime operations were conducted at three high schools in Barberton on Thursday.

Some of the seized items include several boxes of matches stashed with compressed dagga, knives and cigarettes.

“It is deeply disappointing that despite all the programmes and awareness campaigns that the department with stakeholders, conduct in schools, we still find these levels of delinquency in some of our schools,” Shongwe said.

Law enforcement agents found dangerous weapons, and stashes of dagga during raids at schools in Barberton, Mpumalanga. Picture: Supplied

“Our programmes will continue to be rolled out at schools across the province. We remain relentless in our endeavours to make our schools safer for effective learning and teaching.”

Shongwe also blamed individuals who supply the learners with drugs, and appealed to parents to help in pointing out those people.

Police raided schools in Barberton and searched learners. Picture: Supplied

"These children are our future, we should therefore not surrender our country’s future to heartless and unscrupulous people who do not care about our country’s future," Shongwe says.

Some of the learners who were caught with dagga gave the police information regarding their suppliers.

“This subsequently led the team to a nearby car wash where two, 20 litre buckets containing dagga were seized. Two suspects were arrested,” Shongwe said.

A man, believed to be a supplier of the dagga to the learners was also arrested as a nearby car wash. Picture: Supplied

The MEC said the school raids are part of government’s broader school safety strategy. He also pleaded with learners and young people to “become more focused on their studies and positive lifestyles”.

Shongwe said there are many positive role models across all sectors of society that learners should aspire to be like, and stop emulating bad characters.

The programme on Thursday was carried out by the Mpumalanga Traffic Intervention Unit supported by the South African Police Service, Department of Education and the City of Mbombela Local Municipality.

The intervention in schools was also part of the build-up to the Imbizo that will take place in Barberton on September 10.

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