The DBE and the South African Police Service (SAPS), in 2011, formed a partnership to safeguard schools from crime and violence to protect learners and teachers.

A new implementation protocol was necessary to clarify each party’s roles, ensure a proper division of work plan activities and to ensure the protocol’s objectives are executed effectively at local level. This will also include implementing joint SAPS and DBE led crime prevention programmes within schools.

The protocol focuses on the following goals: promoting collaboration between the DBE and SAPS to implement pillar two of the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy (ICVPS) for early violence prevention and connecting schools with local police stations for swift responses to crime and violence. In addition, the protocol includes conducting searches and seizures in line with the South African Schools Act (SASA), when there is a reasonable suspicion of illegal substances or weapons; combatting social ills such as school-related Gender-Based Violence, sexual abuse, alcohol and drug use amongst learners; and addressing gangsterism in schools and surrounding communities.

Mr Sifiso Ngobese, Director for School Safety added that, “the need to update the partnership agreement between the DBE and SAPS, as well as establish this implementation protocol, arose from ongoing concerns about the high levels of violence and contact crimes occurring in and around schools, posing a significant threat to the safety of both learners and school staff”.