Chaos Outside Cape Town Schools as Parents Demand Places for Their Children

Police were called to intervene after parents shut down Solomon Mahlangu and Blue Ridge primary schools in Kraaifontein on Monday and Tuesday.

• ​​​​​Parents in Wallacedene are demanding that their children be transferred from Solomon Mahlangu Primary to Blue Ridge Primary – just across the road – because of poor conditions at Solomon Mahlangu.
• They accused the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) of prioritising learners from outside Wallacedene at Blue Ridge, while their children struggle at Solomon Mahlangu.
• Police intervened after parents blocked entrances to both schools for two days.
• The WCED condemned the disruptions, stating that Blue Ridge was not a replacement school for Solomon Mahlangu.

There were chaotic scenes in Wallacedene, Kraaifontein, on Wednesday as parents moved their children, with their desks and chairs, from Solomon Mahlangu Primary School to Blue Ridge Primary School in protest.

Blue Ridge Primary, a new school, opened on 15 January and is directly opposite Solomon Mahlangu on Thakudi Street. On Wednesday, parents and community members carried desks from Solomon Mahlangu across the street to Blue Ridge, to put them in the school’s empty classrooms.

The protest followed two days of disruptions on Monday and Tuesday when dozens of parents blocked entrances to both schools. They demanded that their children be transferred to Blue Ridge.

Last month, parents also protested to prevent new learners who are not from Wallacedene from enrolling at Blue Ridge.

They argue that some classrooms at Blue Ridge remain empty while learners at Solomon Mahlangu have to endure poor learning conditions. The school lacks a computer lab, a science lab, a library, and a playground. Parents claim the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has prioritised learners from other areas at Blue Ridge.

Police were called to intervene on Wednesday after the two-day school shutdown.

Parent Patricia Jola expressed her frustration, saying, “We currently hold our meetings and graduation ceremonies outside even when the weather is cold because the old school (Solomon Mahlangu) has no hall,’’ she said.

“Our kids return home with wet books because the school has leaks, and they sometimes faint from the heat.”

Community leader Chippa Arosi said that the WCED had initially asked community leaders to form a task team to facilitate the transfer process. “The department never communicated with us after we established the task team. We sent letters, but they didn’t respond,” he said.

WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond denied claims that the department had not engaged with the task team. “Unfortunately, certain members of the community have decided to rather disrupt the rights of learners to schooling for their own demands,” she said.

Hammond said the community had been given the option to enrol their children at Blue Ridge from grade R to grade 3.

But the parents said they wanted this extended to all grades.

Hammond emphasised that Blue Ridge is a new school, not a replacement for Solomon Mahlangu. “Under no circumstances will we tolerate threats to shut down schools or any actions that disrupt schooling,” she said.

“We will only engage with the group once all learners are afforded their basic rights and are attending school,” Hammond said.

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