Disruptions must be quashed

AS THE government prepares for a rise in Covid-19 infections, it should also work very hard to stop disruptions by those hell-bent on blocking the return of pupils to schools.

Law enforcement agencies should also crack down on the activities of the illegitimate business forums that are disrupting the delivery of personal protective equipment (PPE) to schools in KwaZulu-Natal.

At the Department of Basic Education briefing on Sunday, almost all the education MECs pleaded with community members to stop preventing pupils from going to school.

Western Cape education MEC Debbie Schäfer, Gauteng’s Panyaza Lesufi and Kwazi Mshengu of KZN cautioned community members against stopping the return of the next cohort of pupils to schools throughout the country.

We agree with Lesufi’s argument that those who don’t feel comfortable sending their children to school have the right to choose to teach them at home.

They should also not stand in the way of those parents who have decided to send their children to school.

At the same briefing, Mshengu did not mince his words against KZN business forums that are threatening to use strong-arm tactics to disrupt the delivery of PPE to schools unless they are given a portion of the business. He said the hardest-hit areas were uMlazi and Pinetown.

SANDF members who are already on the ground should work with the police to ensure that such disruptions are not given space to flourish.

It would be an unmitigated disaster if Covid-19 cases show an upward trend in some schools due to criminal elements that are blocking the delivery of PPE to pupils.

We urge the members of the forums involved in this illegal practice to use appropriate methods to tender for government contracts.

Such threats of anarchy and violence are not needed, especially at a time when the entire country should be focusing on flattening the curve of Covid-19 infections.