Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele confirmed that the boys were charged with malicious damage to property.
A group of pupils were captured - throwing stones and trying to breakdown a security gate at a house in Ambala Road, Merebank - in a video that circulated on social media.
Mbele said: “On February 2, 2019, house windows were allegedly damaged with stones by two suspects at Ambala Road. A case of malicious damage to property was opened at the Wentworth police station.”
In the video, several pupils are seen inside and outside the yard.
One pupil is seen throwing a rock at the house, while others are seen kicking the security gate and hitting the windows with weapons resembling long sticks.
Jeremy Reddy of Vault Security said they responded to the scene after receiving reports from community members that school children were trying to break into a house.
It is believed that two boys were running from a group of pupils and sought refuge in the house.
“When we arrived, the boys were gone, except for the two boys who ran into the house, and the property owner’s son,” said Reddy.
He added that when SAPS arrived, they took the pupils, plus the boys who had run into the house, back to the station. Reddy said that according to the pupils, they were robbed by the two boys and they followed them back to the house to get their money back.
“They thought the boys who robbed them lived at the premises. They asked for their money and it became a big problem, and they started breaking down the windows because they wanted their money,” said Reddy.
He said the boys inside the house handed R120 to the pupils outside and they left the house.
Reddy said irrespective of what transpired, no one was allowed to break into anyone’s property.
“They should seek SAPS assistance and take it from there,” he said.
Ward 75 PR councillor Sithembiso Ngema said he condemned the behaviour. He said what was sad was that brutality in schools was becoming a habit. “I strongly believe that the government has to put measures in place and find ways of disciplining children who are getting out of hand,” he said.
“It starts at home; children learn this brutality and abuse at home. There must be a relationship between the parents at home and the teachers at school,” added Ngema.
KZN Department of Basic Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said they did not get involved in the day-to-day issues affecting schools. “We rely on district officers and provinces to investigate and share reports with us.”
- THE MERCURY
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