A VIOLENT altercation at Centenary Secondary School in Sydenham, Durban, led to the hospitalisation of three teenagers and the cancellation of classes on Tuesday morning.
The disturbing events unfolded shortly after 9am, prompting school officials to send a letter to parents suspending lessons and urging them to collect their children as soon as possible.
"School will continue as normal tomorrow. Day three of the timetable will be in operation," the school said.
It is alleged that the fights stemmed from a racist incident at the school.
Security teams rushed to the school to help disperse and calm the situation.
Police also attended the scene.
Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson on Education, Sakhile Mngadi, strongly condemned the incident.
"At this stage, there is no certainty about what transpired and we want a thorough investigation. We have engaged the MEC for Education in KwaZulu-Natal and are calling for the immediate deployment of a district task team to investigate the matter and report back to the portfolio committee," Mngadi said.
He added that the investigation must look at how learners were able to get weapons into the school, the state of security measures at the school and interventions that the department must implement to prevent any incidents in future.
"We hope that all learners at the school receive the necessary trauma counselling to deal with this trauma. Violence in schools cannot be normalised and urgent action must be implemented to ensure that schools remain places of learning and not fear," Mngadi stated.
seanne.rall@iol.co.za
DAILY NEWS