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Western Cape government condemns schools vandalism during protests

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Western Cape Education Minister, Debbie Schafer, has condemned recent attacks on schools in Cape Town during violent protests. She says a classroom and a library were damaged at Marconi Beam Primary in Milnerton in recent days while the school hall at Sinenjongo High School was also damaged.

Schafer says a hostel at the special needs school, Bet-el LSEN at Kalkfontein, in Kuils River, was damaged during protests last night. The school caters for learners with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities.

Around 400 learners are currently enrolled at the school which was closed at the time of the incident.

No injuries were reported.

“One of the schools that have been affected is a special needs school. No way are these children going to go to school. At a beautiful new school which we have just completed, the hall has been destroyed by fire. How exactly is destroying educational infrastructure going to assist anybody in our country? It’s not going to assist the protesters in getting what they want. It’s not going to assist our learners in securing for themselves a better future by getting a good education,” says Western Cape Minister of Education Debbie Schaffer.

In the video below, SABC Reporter, Vanessa Poonah gives an update on the protests in the Cape metro:

Land invasions 

Meanwhile, Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato says ongoing land invasions are having a negative impact on development in the city. This follows widespread land grabs in recent weeks.

Plato says they’ve lost a portion of R50 million housing development in Khayelitsha due to the invasions. He says the Mahama Project was set to provide housing for 1 100 beneficiaries, but they’ve lost 420 opportunities due to the unrest.

“They moved onto a site where council wants to build well over 400 houses for the disadvantaged community of that area. Now that is gone it will take a long time to get the people off that site and to get the legal people on the housing waiting list, who were waiting legally for over 20 years for their brick and water houses to arrive. They will not see their brick and water houses,” says Plato.

He adds that the city is doing all it can to prevent continued attempts to invade land and housing projects.

Plato says the Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu, has also agreed to raise concerns regarding the lack of police support for anti-land invasion operations in Cape Town with the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele.

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