When they do occur learners are informed in advance and stash their weapons. Last month at Mzuvele School, five armed youngsters marched into the school in daylight hours and took jewellry off pupils at knife and gunpoint. No one stopped the boys at the entrance, checked for weapons, or even followed them as suspect. No prosecutions or investigations followed. Security guards often act like gatekeepers, reading books and playing games at the entrance to schools while criminals, weapons, and drugs slip in and out through holes in the fences.
Most guards also lack the skills training to handle violent conflict.
One of several unarmed security guards killed this year by gang members was shot at a Chatsworth school in April after approaching armed youths robbing the tuckshop. In any case, they have been retrenched unless the school governing bodies can afford to re-hire them. No disadvantaged school in the study offered counselling for pupils despite the high incidence and severity of violence. Despite the high levels of trauma that accompany modern school life, there is no budget for counsellors and no programme to provide them. Girls who have been raped or assaulted often have no counselling afterwards.