By Johnathan Paoli
In a landmark interdepartmental initiative, the Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, and the Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, officially launched and signed the Collaborative Implementation Protocol on School Safety, in an effort to respond decisively to the surge in violent incidents, crime, and insecurity plaguing schools across South Africa.
Following a months-long partnership between the Basic Education department and the South African Police Service (SAPS), the protocol was signed by both ministers in Cape Town.
“This has been months in the making. We didn’t want a knee-jerk or shotgun response. We needed a systemic and coordinated approach that reflects the reality: schools are not insulated from their communities. They are extensions of them,” Gwarube said.
Grounded in community collaboration, policing data, and a shared vision of child-centred safety, the urgency of the intervention is backed by data.
According to SAPS statistics for the 2023/2024 financial year,
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